Resources
Find a variety of Joy’s recommended books, organizations, and website links listed here in the categories below.
Aging and Elder Care
Comprehensive and helpful resources on aging and elder care
BOOKS
How to Care for Aging Parents by Virginia Morris – an excellent and comprehensive resource
The Eldercare Handbook: Difficult Choices, Compassionate Solutions by Stella Mora Henry
ASSOCIATIONS
National Institute on Aging – wide array of health and aging resources
Dementia
Valued tools on dementia and Alzheimer's Disease
BOOKS
The Caregiver’s Guide to Dementia: Practical Advice for Caring for Yourself and Your Loved One by Gail Weatherill
Understanding the Changing Brain: A Positive Approach to Care by Teepa Snow
The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People with Alzheimer’s Disease and other Dementias by Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins
Caregiver Overwhelmed: How to Cope with Alzheimer’s and Dementia without Losing Your Mind by Teri Halstead
Mindful Dementia Care: Lost and Found in the Alzheimer’s Forest by Ruth Dennis
ASSOCIATIONS
Alzheimer’s Association – caregiver support and educational tools
Dementia Action Alliance - a national organization working to enhance the lives of people living with any type of dementia. Working to remove stigma and misperceptions through advocacy, education and support
Death and Dying
A variety of dying well resources to bring more meaning to life
BOOKS
The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Teaches Us About Living Fully by Frank Ostaseski
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
What Really Matters: 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying by Dr. Karen Wyatt
Healing into Life and Death by Stephen Levine
Who Dies: An Investigation of Conscious Living & Dying by Stephen and Ondrea Levine
A Year to Live - How to Live This Year As If It Were Your Last - by Stephen Levine
Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul by Stephen Jenkinson
Sacred Dying: Creating Rituals for Embracing the End of Life by Megory Anderson
Ritual: Power Healing and Community by Malidoma Patrice Some
The Art of Dying Well: A Practical Guide to a Good End of Life by Katie Butler
Walking Each Other Home by Ram Dass & Mirabai Bush
The Good Funeral: Death, Grief & the Community of Care by Thomas Long and Thomas Lynch
The Green Burial Guidebook: how to plan an affordable, environmentally friendly burial by Elizabeth Fournier
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic by Sogyal Rinpoche
Awake At The Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End-Of-Life Care edited by Koshin Paley Ellison and Matt Weingast
Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life by Jessica Nutik Zitter, MD
Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End by Alua Arthur
Associations/Organizations
DeathDoulas.com - The Death Doula Collective website offering great resources, classes, and help in finding a doula in your state
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
NEDA - National End of Life Doula Alliance
INELDA - International End of Life Doula Association
End of Life University – real talk about life and death
The End Well Project – transforming how we think about end of life
Death with Dignity - promoting death with dignity laws
Reimagine End of Life - explore death/celebrate life, resources
Grief and Loss
Books and online resources to provide a path through grief
BOOKS
The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief by Francis Weller
Transcending Loss: Understanding the Lifelong Impact of Grief by Ashley Davis Prend
How to Survive the Loss of a Love by Melba Colgrove, Harold Bloomfield, Peter McWilliams
Understanding Your Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Hope and Healing by Alan D. Wolfelt
Good Grief Rituals: Tools for Healing by Elaine Child-Gowell
The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief by Jan Richardson
Send my Roots Rain: A Companion on the Grief Journey by Kim Langley
Ambiguous Loss: Learning to Live with Unresolved Grief by Pauline Boss
The Myth of Closure: Ambiguous Loss in a Time of Pandemic and Change by Pauline Boss
Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief by Joanne Cacciatore
Grieving is Loving: Compassionate Words for Bearing the Unbearable by Joanne Cacciatore
ONLINE RESOURCES
Grief Support Center - A national resource connecting people to grief support professionals nationwide. You can view my profile on the Grief Support Center National Directory.
Domani for Grief – Grief support and information
Grief.com – education, information and other resources
Advance Directives
Useful websites and organizations to assist with advance directive planning
ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS
Indiana PREPARE Advance Directive
Aging with Dignity
Advanced Directive Resource Center
Compassion & Choices - offers My End of Life Decisions Toolkit
The Five Wishes – excellent document to articulate your wishes and ensuring human dignity through meaningful conversation
The Conversation Project – wishes for care through end of life
Death with Dignity – your right to die with dignity
Caring Info – help in making informed decisions about care/services
Everplans – secure online plans
Good End of Life - very basic site with free planning worksheets
My Directives – make your medical wishes known
Physicians Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment – POLST
CAKE – providing guidance on death, grief and mortality
Bloomington, Indiana
Local organizations and resources offering support
ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS/ONLINE RESOURCES
Area 10 Agency on Aging – resources, solutions and connections for seniors and persons with disabilities and family caregivers living in Monroe & Owen counties
Dementia Friendly Bloomington – advocating for change in our community and offering resources and links
Worthwhile Reading
A potpourri of Joy's recommended reads and selected go-to books, and other miscellaneous resources. May you find joy in these books as much as I have!
BOOKS
No Death, No Fear - Comforting Wisdom by Thich Nhat Hanh
Your True Home: The Everyday Wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh
Rumi’s Little Book of Life: The Garden of the Soul, the Heart, and the Spirit
The Magpie Art: Gathering the Brightness of Every Day by Paul Weinfield
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic by Sogyal Rinpoche
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Dancing with Joy: 99 Poems edited by Roger Housden
A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are by Byron Katie
Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems edited by Phyllis Cole-Dai & Ruby R. Wilson
Eternal Echoes: Celtic Reflections on Our Yearning to Belong by John O’Donahue
Anam Cara - A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donahue
Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life by Jessica Nutik Zitter, MD
The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD
Radical Wholeness: The Embodied Present and the Ordinary Grace of Being by Philip Shepherd
The Second Half of Life: Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom by Angeles Arrien
Moonlight Gratitude - 365 Nighttime Meditations by Emily Silva
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson
The Lost Art of Dying - Reviving Forgotten Wisdom by L.S. Dugdale, MD
On the Brink of Everything - Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old by Parker J. Palmer
The Book of Awakening- Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have by Mark Nepo
Seven Thousand Ways to Listen -Staying Close to What is Sacred - by Mark Nepo
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
The Death Changing Experience - An Oddball’s Guide to Creating a Life and Death Plan - by Kel McBride
Wild Mercy - Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics - by Mirabai Starr
The Essence of Joy
A collection of personal reflections and writings, journal entries, and treasured photographs.
“My Death Dream” - journal entry
“Gallery of Clouds” - photos
“The Wonder of Nature” - photos