1. Remember to Look Locally…Tips to Get
Your Community Involved
2. Topics for November
3. Activities to Consider
4. What if My Newspaper is not a Knight-Ridder/Tribune
Affiliate?
5. Talk with Dr. Dan Tobin - June 29th!
6. Let Us Help
1. REMEMBER TO LOOK LOCALLY…TIPS TO GET
YOUR COMMUNITY INVOLVED
“Finding Our Way” will touch on a broad
range of end-of-life topics – each of them
meaningful and powerful. However, we all
know that what affects people the most,
what stays with them the longest, is when
an issue personally affects them or the
people they know. Through that personal
connection, the story is brought home –
and that is our challenge with “Finding
Our Way.
Alerting the editors of your community papers
to the series is the starting point – encouraging
the members of your community to read the
articles and embrace the topics is an entirely
different matter. The best way to accomplish
this is to help people to see the relevance
of these topics in their lives. There are
many ways to do this. Use the advance notice
of the topics you are receiving with this
newsletter and look for local tie-ins. With
the brains and experience on your coalition,
the ideas and opportunities are endless,
and right in your own backyard.
2. TOPICS FOR NOVEMBER
On November 5th, the series will focus on
caring for aging parents and partners. Karen
Orloff Kaplan and Ira Byock will co-author
an article discussing the financial, social
and psychological aspects of caregiving.
On November 12th, Stephen Connor will author
an article entitled, “Hospice: Finding Our
Way Home.” This article will relate the
philosophy and practice of hospice care
and provide information on how to access
hospice.
November 19th, the series focuses on nursing
homes and long-term care. Muriel Gillick
and Len Fishman will co-author an article
entitled, “Nursing Homes: Maximizing Long-Term
Care.” This article will provide an overview
of the demographics and evolving trends
in long-term care and will discuss family
dilemmas and decision making.
The last week in November will address the
death of children. Bruce Himelstein and
Joanne Hilden will author an article entitled,
“When a Child is Dying: Learning From the
Unthinkable.” This article will provide
information on palliative care for dying
children and will discuss facing the reality
of the death of a child and surviving the
loss.
3. ACTIVITIES TO CONSIDER
November’s articles are full of great topics
around which you can rally your coalition.
November is also National Caregivers Month,
National Hospice Month and includes Thanksgiving
– the start of the holiday season. Family
gatherings to celebrate the holidays provide
a wonderful time to discuss the issues brought
forth in this series. Here are some activities
to consider for November:
· For the article on caring for aging parents
and partners, you could suggest that your
local newspaper run a story on employers’
responses to employed caregivers needs,
highlighting good practices.
· "Who Cares: Chronic Illness in America,"
a Fred Friendly seminar scheduled to air
on PBS the first week of September, focuses
on caregiving and chronic illness. Check
with your local Public Television Station
for listing date and times.
· For the article on hospice care, you could
work with those who provide hospice care
in your community to create a resource guide
on hospice care and distribute it to doctors'
offices, public libraries and public office
buildings throughout your community.
· In coordination with the article on nursing
homes and long-term care options, your coalition
could work with a local nursing home community
to host an open house and question and answer
period with the administrator of the nursing
home and local physicians.
· For the article on the death of a child,
your coalition could sponsor an art show
at your local children’s hospital to showcase
the work of seriously ill children.
As you can see, the possibilities are endless.
Get your coalition together with copies
of these newsletters releasing the weekly
topics for the series and brainstorm ways
to get involved!
Remember, too, to look around your community
for logical resources to join your coalition
or to sit on a panel or speak to the media.
Funeral directors, for example, have a great
deal of knowledge on such subjects as grief,
loss and cultural and religious diversity
surrounding death and dying. Social workers
and school guidance counselors would be
able to provide pointers on how children
cope with grief and the impact of caregiving
on them. Employers would provide a different
perspective on caregiving and it's impact
on the workplace. Keep your eyes on your
goals, but make your tent large.
4. WHAT IF MY NEWSPAPER IS NOT A KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
AFFILIATE?
Some of you are already asking what instructions
you can give your newspaper editors if they
aren't part of the Knight-Ridder/Tribune
network. Well, you can tell them that these
articles will move to KRT (Knight Ridder/Tribune)
subscribers via AP DataFeature.
Additionally, the articles, the photos accompanying
the articles, the series log and mug shots
and short bios of each writer will be available
on KRT Direct at
www.krtdirect.com/dying.
(This is for non-KRT subscribers.)
KRT also will produce a set of paginated
pages for this series. The pages
will begin posting in mid-August and are
free to any newspaper. - For questions about
the paginated pages,
contact KRT OnePages at (202) 383-6151 or
krt-onepages@krtinfo.com.
5. TALK WITH DR. DAN TOBIN - JUNE 29TH!
Register to become a Last Acts Partner so
you can participate in this call with Dr.
Dan Tobin. Go to: http://www.lastacts.org/partnerapplication
Last Acts Partners can participate in this
one-hour conference call to learn about
the 15-week newspaper series and education
outreach program called, “Finding Our Way:
Living with Dying in America.” This newspaper
series is designed to foster a journey with
caregivers, community organizations and
professionals, and presents a great opportunity
for Partners to promote local programs,
services and create dialog. You must be
a Last Acts Partner to join this call. To
register, send a fax (703-827-0783) or email
kmartin@bballard.com
to Kim Martin, by noon EDT on Thursday,
June 28. The fax or email needs to include
your name, organization, fax, email, and
phone.
To read about the call and register online,
click
here.
(Make sure this link is not broken in your
browser)
6. LET US HELP
If you have any questions about the series
or the outreach surrounding it, or if you
have great ideas for activities that you
feel other coalitions could benefit from,
please contact us at
steeringcommittees@bballard.com.
We are very excited that so many of you
are interested in this series and are thinking
of such wonderful ways to use “Finding Our
Way” as a rallying point for action. Keep
those ideas coming and let us know if we
can help.
