Life and Death Matters - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from Life and Death Matters on culturally safe care, trauma-informed practice, boundaries, advocacy, and communication skills.

Personal baggage

The values, ideas, hopes, fears, dreams, biases and beliefs you bring to caregiving.

Baggage

The personal baggage you carry; it is neither inherently good nor bad and marks you as human.

Self-awareness

Ability to reflect on and identify your own values, beliefs and biases to avoid interfering with care.

World view

A worldview that communicates respect and supports dignity for all people.

Cultural safety

Care that is free of systemic bias and racism, where the person feels heard and respected.

Cultural humility

Empowers the dying person and family; acknowledges that their answers are as valid as those of the medical team.

Cultural awareness

Acknowledges your own cultural values and biases and recognizes you view other cultures through your own lens; asks why we do things this way.

Cultural sensitivity

Demonstrates equal respect for all cultures and acknowledges differences, without saying any culture is better or worse.

Cultural competence

Lifelong commitment to honouring and respecting people; acknowledges biases and gathers cultural values and protocols to incorporate into care.

Trauma-informed care

Care approach that recognizes trauma and aims to avoid re-traumatization by creating safety, trust, collaboration and empowerment.

Dignity Question

The guiding question: What do I need to know about you as a person to give you the best care possible?

Two-Eyed Seeing

A concept that integrates Indigenous and Western knowledge, placing Indigenous and Western ways in a space between the canoe and the ship.

Indigenous Wellness Framework

A framework aligning mental, physical, emotional and spiritual wellness; mental meaning, physical purpose, emotional belonging, spiritual hope.

Best practice

A method that consistently yields the desired result.

Best practices in palliative care

Practices and approaches that enable the team to provide excellent care as determined by the person and family.

Three categories of best practices

Expanding your worldview; Building skills in connecting and communicating; Developing best practice ways of being.

Expanding your world view

See every person as valuable, hear the person, interact with them, and treat them with dignity.

Building skills in communicating and connecting

Skills like listening, pausing, open-ended questions, silence, curiosity, and avoiding communication roadblocks.

Developing best practice ways of being

Focusing on strengths, maintaining hope, and being empathic and compassionate.

Therapeutic boundaries

Invisible edges in the caregiver–patient relationship; boundaries allow emotional availability while honoring that the patient’s story is not yours.

Advocacy

Speaking up for or on behalf of another person; PSWs advocate by clarifying information, connecting to assistance and identifying resources.

Listening

Listen with the sole intention of hearing the person.

Pausing

Take a moment before responding to validate the person.

Open-ended questions

Ask questions that require more than yes/no answers, e.g., 'Tell me more' or 'Please clarify'.

Silence

Offering silence can provide support and space for reflection.

Curiosity

Being curious is essential to providing person-centred, culturally safe palliative care.

Roadblocks to communication

Things that hinder conversation: minimising problems, false reassurance, excessive praise, platitudes.

The Fix-it Trap

The tendency to try to fix suffering; instead, practice being with the person and managing unfixable pain.