How to Choose a Hospice Gift

Choosing the right gift for a hospice patient is hardly easy. It can be almost as difficult as making the decision to give a gift at all. Hospice care is end of life care and gifts are clearly temporary. As such, care should be taken to choose a gift that is meaningful and/or useful. Consider consumable gifts or gifts that can be used, donated, sold or disposed of after the patient passes. The immediate family members will have enough to contend with; tending to recent gifts may cause additional and unnecessary grief. Read on to learn more.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Consumables like juices and candies
• Lotion
• Lip balm or gloss
• Reusable water bottle
• Blankets, socks or head wear
• Digital frame and compatible memory card(s)

1. Choose a consumable gift. Put together a small basket of goodies to eat or drink. An assortment of small juice bottles, hard candies and readymade pudding or gelatin will provide some amount of nourishment.
2. Consider a practical gift instead. Hospice patients often battle dehydration and its symptoms. Moisturizing lotions, lip balm or clear gloss and a reusable water bottle are all great choices. Flavored sports drinks can also help restore vital nutrients that the patient may not be getting.
3. Choose a “comfort” gift. Soft blankets, socks or caps made from fleece or flannel can help keep the patient warm without irritating sensitive skin. Soft tissues or handkerchiefs can make wiping away tears or drippy noses a less painful task.
4. Combine plants and silk flowers into a floral arrangement. Choose a hardy green plant that won’t affect allergies and disperse colorful silk flowers that won’t fade or require attention during the hospice period throughout the arrangement.
5. Give the gift of friends and family. Purchase a digital frame and a compatible memory card. Fill the memory card with pictures of friends and family so the patient can feel their presence even when they are not around.

Tips & Warnings

• Many digital frames will play music files from the memory card. Consider adding some of the patient’s favorite songs.
• Purchase a second compatible memory card and fill it with pictures of the patient in happier times. The family may wish to use the digital frame to display photos of the deceased during the funeral and having a memory card ready will ease the burden of scanning old photographs.
• Use pictures where the subjects are smiling and happy. Grumpy looking photos have the potential to bring down or depress the patient.