The Finding Our Way national public education initiative focused on bringing practical information to the American public regarding end of life and its surrounding issues. Finding Our Way: Living with Dying in America, a fifteen-week series published in 160 newspapers across the country during the fall of 2001 was read by over 2 million people. The series was distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

Each article in the newspaper series explored a subject that faces seriously ill Americans, their caregivers, families, and communities. The newspaper series was written by experts in the field of medicine, sociology, theology or culture and explores issues that face seriously ill Americans, their caregivers, families, and communities. The series offered compelling personal stories and up-to-the-minute proactive information and resources so that individuals, families and communities can find the help they need.

The overall effort provides practical information and user-friendly resources on end-of-life issues for individuals and organizations. We hope that it will also create a demand or change among American consumers. A critical element to the success of the effort is the cumulative energy being generated across the country by community and state end-of-life coalitions.

In September 2002, Finding Our Way will launch a web-based self study course entitled “The American Course on Living with Dying”. This self-paced non-instructor mediated web-based course is a collaborative effort with Santa Clara University (SCU), using state of the art web course Prometheus software. The web-based self study course will feature course materials on line, the ability of participants to contribute to online discussions, video streaming using real video and a quiz at the end with an electronically-delivered certificate of completion. Participants will be able to begin and take the course at any time during the year. The course is intended as a resource for all Americans and can be used in adult education centers like the YMCA, YWCA and also serve as a training experience for end-of-life professionals and volunteers in hospice, oncology, long-term care, and nurse’s aides.

A number of national organizations are participating in the campaign to promote Finding Our Way: Living with Dying in America in communities around the country. The Partnership for Caring, Last Acts®, The Center for Advanced Illness Coordinated Care/VA HealthCare Network, Upstate New York at Albany and the Center for Death Education and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin provide leadership for the effort. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, FanFox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation and Charitable Leadership Foundation provide funding. 

As a nation, we must move from a stance of powerlessness and avoidance to one in which this most significant life event is approached with the same kind of emotional preparedness, planning, and active involvement that we strive for in other domains of life. The Finding Our Way initiative seeks to make this transition a reality for Americans.

Without discussion and preparation for the end of our lives, we run the risk of denying ourselves dignity and comfort. America is ready to talk.