Robin Dance: How You Can *Really* Help Someone with a Terminal Diagnosis

The (in)courage Podcast

"Serving well begins with asking for suggestions, listening carefully, and getting creative by anticipating all sorts of needs. Recently in a conversation with my sister (who’s been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer) and brother-in-law, they mentioned the awkward position they’ve repeatedly found themselves in with people wanting to help.
What is offered isn’t what they need, and they don’t know how to express this for fear of sounding ungrateful. Well-meaning friends make assumptions about what is helpful. Most people (including me!) offer food, but it has to be when it fits their schedule. What we fail to consider is how full the person’s refrigerator may already be, how small their appetite is from treatment or sickness, how our timing isn’t aligned with their existing plans, and how guilty or unappreciative the person feels from having to throw out excess food they simply can’t eat.
Even if we ask open-ended questions about how to help, it’s awkward for the person to express what they really could use.
When I realized there were better ways to help others going through similar circumstances, I asked my sister, brother-in-law, and friends for suggestions."
Read Robin's list and leave her a comment: https://incourage.me/?p=237802
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