Resources
The time immediately near or following the loss of a loved ones can leave you searching for information answers and comfort. As new challenges will arise you will be searching for resources. We've compiled the following to give you a broad range of information.
Adult Resources
Our goal is to provide you with innovative and considerate resources to help with care. Some books or articles can be downloaded from our site at no cost. Others may be available from the Toronto Public Library or can be purchased online through book vendors like Amazon. The hospice does not benefit, financially, and takes no responsibility for any of these external links.
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Do You Have A Library Card?
Click here for more information on how to use the Toronto Library System online.
A Caregiver's Guide
A Handbook about end of life care
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Now, more than ever, families may be placed in a role for which they have limited training and resources. May this guide aid you in balancing the needs of your family.
Being Mortal
Best book of the Year by The Washington Post,
The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Chicago Tribune
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Atul Gawande, a practicing surgeon, examines medicine’s limitations and failures as life draws to a close. Through research and stories of his own patients and family, Gawande reveals the suffering this dynamic has produced. What medicine can do often runs counter to what it should do. Nursing homes battle with residents over food and choices. Uncomfortable discussing patients' anxieties about death, doctors fall back on false hopes and treatments. Riveting, honest, and humane, Being Mortal shows how the ultimate goal is not a good death but a good life-all the way to the very end.
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Children/Youth Resources
Many youth face the terminal illness and death, grandparents, friends, and even family when they are not ready. Often there are many questions about the concepts to begin acceptance and healing and the following pieces are aids along that journey.
Children
I Miss You
A First Look at Death by Pat Thomas
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This book addresses children’s feelings and questions about death in a simple, realistic way to help them understand that death is a natural part of life and that grief and a sense of loss are normal feelings for them to have after a loved one’s death.
The Invisible String
by Patrice Karst
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This book is a simple approach to overcome the fear of loneliness or separation from those we love whether by distance or death. We are all connected by a very special string made of love and even though you may not be able to see it, you can feel it deep in your heart.
When Dinosaurs Die
A Guide to Understanding Death by Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown
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Offers a compassionate explanation of death, dying, and coping with grief and loss in simple language for young kids and families. This book also discusses the more difficult subjects of suicide, war, prejudice and poverty, and explains death rituals from several different cultures.
Ida, Always
by Caron Levis
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Gus lives in a big park in the middle of an even bigger city, and he spends his days with Ida. Then one sad day, Gus learns that Ida is very sick, and she isn't going to get better. Slowly Gus realizes that even after Ida is gone, she will still be with him.
Lifetimes
A Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children by Brian Mellonie and Robert Ingpen
This book illustrates how the living and dying of people is a natural process, like that of all living things. The book also discusses the life cycle of various plants and animals as well as humans, in simple and direct language.
The Next Place
by Warren Hanson
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This is a book that explores where people go when they leave ‘this place.’ It presents a beautiful and hopeful view of where people go when they die without prescribing any one spiritual view other than the imagination that the next place is wonderful.
Youth
The Last Invisible Boy
by Evan Kuhlman
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After the sudden death of his father, Finn slowly turns invisible. As time goes on, Finn finds that his “invisibility” might not be as permanent and inevitable as he might believe it to be.
The Thing About Jellyfish
by Ali Benjamin
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After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting. Suzy crafts a plan to prove her theory, even if it means traveling the globe alone.
Harvey
by Hervé Bouchard
A graphic novel about a young boy’s reaction to his father’s death. Harvey and his little brother are playing when they learn that their father has died of a heart attack. Everything changes, and Harvey finds himself disappearing.
Mockingbird
by Kathryn Erskine
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Caitlin has Asperger’s syndrome and is coping with the death of her brother in a school shooting. She reaches out past her own family’s tragedy to help others as she helps herself.
Apps
Kids Help Phone
visit kidshelpphone.ca call 1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868 24-hour, anonymous, and confidential phone counselling. You can live chat with a Kids Help Phone counsellor online, or from your mobile through the free Always There app.
Apart of Me
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apartofme.app This game is designed to help you find wisdom and strength to help you cope with the death of a loved one. It is freely available on the iOS App Store and Google Play.
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Please email us at maureen@ttch.org if you need help accessing any of these resources.
Links
Emily's House
Emily’s House is a special place for kids and youth. A place of compassion, care, comfort, laughter, learning and play. Featuring a home-like, comforting environment, Emily’s House is dedicated to caring for children with complex needs while supporting their families.
HPCO
Hospice Palliative Care Ontario is a provincial association for hospices and palliative care providers, professionals, and volunteers throughout Ontario. We envision a future where every person and family in the province of Ontario can quickly and easily access the finest standard of hospice palliative care when required.
Canadian Palliative
Care Association
Our Vision: That all Canadians have access to quality hospice palliative care.
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Our Mission: CHPCA is the national leader in the pursuit of quality hospice palliative care in Canada through: public policy, education, knowledge translation, awareness, and collaboration.