Whether shared during a hospital visit, handed to a grieving family, placed in a parish resource area, or included in follow-up care, CareNotes help extend support beyond the moment of conversation.
Here are five meaningful ways organizations use CareNotes to support the people they serve.
The fact is that we can find great comfort and healing when we open our hearts to forgive, to really forgive. Forgiveness, indeed, when we open our hearts up wide, can heal our very lives.
Even though it may not feel this way right now, time, and your own efforts, will begin to heal your heart. You can achieve a sense of peace after this loss. Here are some steps that have helped me through the first year.
In this CareNote, we will explore the origins of Lent and how this holy season can truly enrich your faith as we journey together from the ashes of Ash Wednesday to the light of Easter Morning.
Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, you’re hearing. But you’re definitely not feeling the wonder.
If you’ve ever called or emailed CareNotes, chances are you’ve talked with Vicki, a familiar voice in CareNotes customer service. You’ve most likely experienced her
CareNotes offer practical, easy-to-use tools that help staff communicate with compassion, support patients and families, and protect their own well-being. Here are five ways CareNotes can make your healthcare work easier.
Death has touched a child you love, and you are discovering that you cannot protect the youngster from life’s most painful reality. But, just as you eased the crying baby’s woe, there are ways you can help now.
What follows are five ingredients in prayer that can help us foster a deeper encounter with Jesus Christ who brings our lives and prayer to God through the Holy Spirit.
If we do not adequately care for ourselves, eventually, we caregivers reach our limit. We burn out.
by Suzy Farren Working your way through. Unfortunately, breast cancer is not rare. Other than skin cancer, it is the most common cancer to afflict
This CareNote will suggest ways to help acknowledge and work through the complicated emotions that surround a clean bill of health after a diagnosis of cancer.
This CareNote offers some reflections about grief and practical suggestions of activities you might find helpful during your time of bereavement.
First-year grief will surprise you in many ways, but here are a few things you can expect.
In positive ways, worry can lead us to find solutions to problems and can show how compassionate we are to the needs of others. In negative ways, worry can become chronic, maybe even obsessive and irrational. The author offers suggestions to regain peace of mind when worry has the better of you.
Grace is not something you can earn or force into your life. It’s God’s gift, freely given to you just because you exist.
Conversations focused on your needs and wishes can unburden family and medical providers from having to guess what you need and enable them to focus on making happen what you want.
Gratitude is recognizing the good things in life each and every day, even—and especially—in the midst of trying circumstances.
Welcome to the Age of Anxiety. Stress seems to be epidemic in our society today.
“I can’t. God can. I think I’ll let God.” I came upon those words at the bottom of the last pile of psychology and religion and self-help books I was going to consult.
At many junctures in our life, God can seem far away. We may wonder where God is in time of tragedy. We strain to hear God’s voice when we’re looking for direction in our lives.
The caregiving that you do is important and valuable work. The patients, clients, and loved ones you take care of need you to be the best you can be…and so do you.
If you’ve recently lost a close friend, such a hole lies in the center of your world. The death of a close friend leaves an aching emptiness that will not go away; it cannot be avoided or ignored.
by Karen Katafiasz Small acts of kindness can change people’s lives. We know this from stories about people who found hope and courage and sustenance,
CareNotes help make difficult conversations easier to navigate by providing uplifting advice in an easy-to-read 5” x 7” booklet. Here are 5 easy ways to incorporate CareNotes into your workplace culture.
by Joan Wester Anderson and Eugenie G. Wheeler It’s a lump in your throat, a knot in your stomach, a runaway heartbeat, adrenaline overkill. It’s
The Christian tradition has recommended three practices from earliest times—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. For most of my life, I tended to see these as designed for me, to strengthen my character and resolve, to rid myself of spiritual flabbiness, to build spiritual muscle.
By Tom McGrath Lent is an annual opportunity to check up on the state of your spiritual health. The three traditional pathways of Lent take
By Carol Luebering Memory writes on every page of the calendar—here a birthday, there a holiday, further on a wedding date. In the wake of
By Ralph P. Plumley People of all ages, professions, and socio-economic backgrounds may have thoughts of suicide or participate in some kind of self-harm. If
By Br. Silas Henderson, O.S.B There is a story related by Saint Jerome that when the Apostle John was an old man, his followers would
By Therese J. Borchard It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but for many of us, it’s also the most stressful
By Louisa Rogers “I have a secret to tell you,” my then 97-year-old father told me on the phone, in a conspiratorial whisper, “and you mustn’t
Once a person recovers from the immediate effects of trauma, there may be an invisible impression left behind in their nervous system. That’s the root of PTSD, which is a way in which the trauma comes back in unwelcome, disturbing ways. CareNote author, Geoffrey Tyrell, offers ways to help a loved one move forward when they are suffering from PTSD.
If you have a friend or a loved one who suffers from depression or its cousin, anxiety, you are not alone.
Simply put, as a caring helper, you are the tool of your trade. And how you care for yourself physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually has a direct connection to the quality of the care you are able to offer. Taking care of yourself makes it possible for you to help take care of others. If the well-being of the person you are attending is the goal, ignoring your own self-care should raise some red flags. Here are some guidelines that can help you avoid the pitfalls.
Lent is a special time of year. Its name is related to the word “length,” since Lent is always celebrated when the days lengthen and winter turns to spring. The season has traditionally been seen as a time of renunciation or self-denial, when we “give up things” for Lent. But Lent is best experienced as a time of growth: growing closer to God and our true selves through prayer, meditation, and focused attention to our spiritual lives.
by Carol Luebering The young woman who usually checks my groceries asked if I had had a nice holiday. “Oh, yes,” I replied. “I had
by Darcie D. Sims The holidays are coming and I’m not sure I’m ready. I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready again. It’s winter and
by Mary T. Scott Emily, a young military spouse and mother, was sadly eyeing the duffle bags and equipment piled in her front hall. The
When we struggle with things that just can’t be changed, we feel as though we’re in the jaws of a vise. While it may be true that no amount of praying will get us out of the vise, prayer can help to relieve the pressure.
We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to each of our employees so you can connect a face with a name the next time you give us a call, and maybe learn a little about what makes us who we are along the way!
We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to each of our employees so you can connect a face with a name the next time you give us a call, and maybe learn a little about what makes us who we are along the way!
Worry is not the enemy. It is the inability to manage worry which diminishes enjoyment of life, erodes peace of mind and, if left unchecked, can damage health. Here are some suggestions which anyone can implement in order to stop worrying and start living.
We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to each of our employees so you can connect a face with a name the next time you give us a call, and maybe learn a little about what makes us who we are along the way!
In this NEW title, CareNotes author, Diane Pharo, SCN, shares her genuine words of comfort and reassurance providing peace to our inner being and reminding us to live gratefully every day.
Just by reading this CareNote, you are opening yourself to hope. Let God love you back to health and wholeness through the hands of helping professionals, the miracle of modern medical treatment, the hearts of caring friends, and your own desire to be well.
Children aren’t immune to stress. This booklet helps children explore attitudes and ideas to try to diminish some of the stress they feel in their lives.
God may seem very far away. We may be tempted to exit from the story of the person we care about or from the story of our faith. As my friend has taught me, however, it’s precisely at these moments that we need to stay in the story. For in the midst of crisis lie further opportunities for loving unconditionally and becoming more fully human.
A common theme in our conversations is how to find peace in the present moment even when it is tinged with grief and fear about what the future might hold for us and our loved ones. Along the way, I’ve learned a few things that help me find peace and strength in the present moment more often than I used to, regardless of how difficult or overwhelming it feels at any given time.
Each of us faces challenges in life. Being human takes us on a journey through extraordinary times of happiness and also through devastating experiences of loss and fear. Have you ever found yourself wondering why some people seem to bounce back with stamina and courage after trauma and loss…?
