The Funeral.com Journal

Resources to help you create tributes as unique as the people (and pets) you love. Learn how engraving, photos, colors, and symbols add meaning; discover scattering rituals and at-home memorial ideas. We focus on the details that matter—because small choices can carry a lifetime of comfort.

Hospice Respite Care: What It Is and When Families Can Use It

Hospice Respite Care: What It Is and When Families Can Use It

Caregiver exhaustion is one of the quiet realities of end-of-life care. Families often tell themselves they should be able to do it all, especially if the person they’re caring for...

Hospice in a Nursing Home: How It Works Alongside Facility Care

Hospice in a Nursing Home: How It Works Alongside Facility Care

When a loved one is living in a nursing home and hospice is mentioned, families often feel two opposing things at once: relief that there may be more support, and...

In-Home Hospice vs Inpatient Hospice: How Families Decide (Without Guessing)

In-Home Hospice vs Inpatient Hospice: How Families Decide (Without Guessing)

When a family asks whether hospice should happen at home or in an inpatient setting, they are rarely choosing between “good” and “bad.” They are choosing between two kinds of...

How Long Can Someone Stay on Hospice? What Recertification Means

How Long Can Someone Stay on Hospice? What Recertification Means

One of the most common questions families ask—sometimes with relief, sometimes with suspicion—is simple: “How long can someone stay on hospice?” The question usually comes from a very human place....

Who Qualifies for Hospice? The Plain-English Medicare Eligibility Guide

Who Qualifies for Hospice? The Plain-English Medicare Eligibility Guide

When a doctor first mentions hospice, families often hear it as a door closing. The question that follows is almost always the same: “Do they actually qualify?” Underneath that is...

Does Choosing Hospice Mean “Stopping Treatment”? What Medicare Means by Comfort Care

Does Choosing Hospice Mean “Stopping Treatment”? What Medicare Means by Comfort Care

One of the hardest phrases families hear near the end of life is, “It may be time to consider hospice.” For many, it sounds like a verdict—that there are no...

What Hospice Actually Does at Home (and What Families Still Handle)

What Hospice Actually Does at Home (and What Families Still Handle)

When families first hear the words home hospice, they often imagine two extremes. One is fear: that hospice means “we’re out of options.” The other is relief: that hospice will...

POLST, DNR, and Advance Directives: What Each One Does in a Medical Emergency

POLST, DNR, and Advance Directives: What Each One Does in a Medical Emergency

In a medical emergency, families often discover something they did not know they needed: a shared language for decisions. The ambulance arrives, the room fills with people and questions, and...

Home Hospice and Advance Care Planning: What Families Need to Know Before a Crisis

Home Hospice and Advance Care Planning: What Families Need to Know Before a Crisis

Most families do not arrive at home hospice because they love planning. They arrive because something has changed. A parent is sleeping more. A spouse is losing weight. A doctor...

Home Hospice: What It Is, What It Covers, and How to Prepare

Home Hospice: What It Is, What It Covers, and How to Prepare

Families rarely start researching home hospice on a calm, ordinary afternoon. Most people begin because something has changed: more sleeping, less eating, a new diagnosis, a frightening hospital stay, or...

Pet Hospice vs. Palliative Care: The Difference, and Why It Matters for Planning

Pet Hospice vs. Palliative Care: The Difference, and Why It Matters for Planning

Most families don’t arrive at this question in a calm, academic way. They arrive after a diagnosis that changes the room, or after a string of nights when their senior...

End-of-Life Doulas: What They Do, How They Work with Hospice, and Questions to Ask Before Hiring

End-of-Life Doulas: What They Do, How They Work with Hospice, and Questions to Ask Before Hiring

Most families don’t start their week thinking, “We should hire a doula.” They start with smaller, more urgent thoughts: “Mom isn’t eating.” “He’s sleeping more.” “The nurse says we should...

Hospice vs Palliative Care: How They Differ and How They Support Families Near the End of Life

Hospice vs Palliative Care: How They Differ and How They Support Families Near the End of Life

When a serious illness progresses and terms like “palliative” and “hospice” start appearing in medical discussions, it can feel like a sudden plunge into unfamiliar language at one of life’s...