1. END-OF-LIFE WORK CONTINUING NATIONWIDE
It’s been four months since the Rallying Points conference in California and communities across the country are continuing the work to raise awareness of end-of-life issues. We are constantly amazed by the creative approaches undertaken in this effort and by the hard work and dedication displayed by all of those who have heard the call to action. We hope you know that we are here to help you out whenever we can -- to provide references and contacts, to help you gather resources and to act as a sounding board. Part of our duty is to help make you aware of other activities dealing with end of life that we think you would be interested in – and boy, do we have a great one for you!
2. A NEW RALLYING POINT
Last Acts, Partnership for Caring, the Life Institute/VA Healthcare Network – Upstate New York and the Center for Death Education and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin have partnered with Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services to create Finding Our Way: Living with Dying in America. This will be a 15-week series of articles on specific end-of-life issues written especially for newspapers and distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune. Finding Our Way: Living with Dying in America will offer compelling personal stories and state-of-the-art information from national leaders in the medical, social, spiritual and cultural aspects of death and dying. The focus of the series will not be academic – these will be real-life centered, practical articles that are geared to be helpful to everyday people facing these issues. The series will run from September through December. We are so very excited about this project! Last year, On Our Own Terms brought end-of-life issues to your television -- now Finding Our Way will bring it to your community papers. And it won’t stop there. Following completion of the series, an extended publication of the articles will be published and there will be a web-based non-credit course offered.
3. SEPTEMBER’S FOCUS
The series kicks off on September 10th with the topic “Living with Dying in America.” The first article will be co-authored by Robert Milch, M.D. and Donald Schumacher, ScD. The article will focus on the medical realities of dying and the choices and challenges patients and their loved ones are facing. The article will study what the health care system and individuals can do to improve the quality of life at the end of life. The following week, the topic shifts to “It Is Time to Talk: Conversations at the End of Life.” This article will be written by Dale Larson, PhD and will discuss the dynamics of end-of-life discussions. When do they need to happen and how does one initiate these discussions earlier in the course of an advanced illness. The article will differentiate the end-of-life discussions one must have with their families from the one they must have with their health care professionals. The final week in September discusses “Widowhood.” Myra Christopher, BA will author this article that addresses living longer and its implications for loss and dying with a focus on widowhood. Myra Christopher will also discuss finding life again after a loss and achieving closure, as well as facing dying as a part of aging.
4. WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
There are many opportunities for community involvement around this series; in fact, the newspaper publishers are counting on it! The first step is to visit with your local newspaper and make certain that they are aware of this series and the interest in it that exists in your community. Offer to work with them to promote the series throughout their readership – maybe even suggest local stories that could tie in with the nationally distributed articles. Don’t forget other media sources in your community: Look to your radio and television stations and encourage them to get involved in this national dialogue. Each week provides opportunities for unique activities to promote the series. For instance, for week one’s focus on Death and Dying in America, you could offer your local newspaper, radio and television stations stories of local people whose deaths were managed well and not well. For week two’s focus on Living with Dying in America, your coalition could host an art show dealing with death, dying and bereavement. Your coalition could co-sponsor a forum with city/county planners to discuss what your community will be like in twenty years to coincide with the Aging Well and Widowhood article. There are many ways that you can work to bring attention to this series and raise awareness of the issues it addresses…the sky’s the limit!
5. KEEP IN TOUCH
These articles are so meaningful and are such an exciting new outreach tool in our effort to raise awareness about end-of-life issues. Please get involved in helping to spread the word about this groundbreaking new project and be on the lookout for these articles in your local papers.
Know that we are here to help provide you with information on the series and outreach efforts. You can contact us at
steeringcommittees@bballard.com. Please share your information with us and let us know any ideas or feedback you have. Each month’s weekly topics have already been determined, and we will send you all the information on October’s topics in the next newsletter.
