More Newspapers Than Ever
Running Finding Our Way!!!
Newspapers Around the
Country are Running Finding
Our Way
National Family Caregivers
Alliance Partners with Local
Community
Community Coalition Unveils
New Caregiving Video
Community Coalition
Spotlight
Are You
Using the Articles in Your
Newsletters?
Newspapers Around the
Country are Running
Finding Our Way
The Finding Our Way
Team is thrilled to announce
a significant increase in
circulation of the series to
readers around the country!
These compelling and helpful
feature stories about
end-of-life are now reaching
over 6.8 million readers
nationwide! Finding Our Way:
Living with Dying in America
is now being circulated in
33 states in over 115
newspapers. Thank you so
much for your continued
efforts to get this series
published in your
communities. You are making
it happen!
National Family
Caregivers Alliance Partners
with Local Community
The National Family
Caregivers Alliance (NFCA)
has partnered with its home
county, Montgomery County,
Maryland, to celebrate
National Family Caregivers
Month. Banners have been
hung across major roadways
and NFCA, in conjunction
with Montgomery County, held
a program that incorporated
November’s caregiving theme
with the Fred Friendly
Seminar, entitled WHO
CARES: Chronic Illness in
America, airing on PBS
stations across the country.
Highlights of the program
were shown and a nine-person
panel presented a discussion
of the issues. Proclamations
were received from the
county and the state. The
endeavor included radio
public service announcements
and internal outreach to
county employees.
The NFCA website features
information about caregiving,
including activities your
coalition can organize
around National Family
Caregivers Month. To find
out more, visit:
http://www.nfcacares.org/
Most PBS affiliates aired
WHO CARES: Chronic Illness
in America on Sunday
November 11. However, many
stations have not broadcast
the program or will
rebroadcast it soon. For
more information on station
listings visit PBS at
www.pbs.org.
Community Coalition
Unveils New Caregiving Video
Project Compassion, the
local end-of-life coalition
in Chapel Hill, NC has
worked in conjunction with
UNC Healthcare, the Duke
Institute on Care at the End
of Life, Chapel
Hill-Carrboro City Schools,
the Carolinas Center for
Hospice and End of Life
Care, the Family Support
Network and UNC Hospice to
present a new video
examining how families are
affected by the death of
children. Caring for a
critically or terminally ill
infant, child or adolescent
and then trying to manage
after the child's death are
profound and life-changing
experiences for families. It
places families at high risk
for psychological,
emotional, and financial
problems. Other family
members, friends, the
community, and health
professionals are often at a
loss to know how best to
support a family.
Caring for Families
When a Child is
Dying is a new video that
explores how to help
families with terminally ill
children. Through on-camera
interviews, this 50-minute
video tells the stories of
four families in their own
voices and from their
perspective. They talk about
end of life care decisions
they made for their
children: how they navigated
through treatment options,
how they balanced the needs
of all family members, and
who or what was helpful
during this time.
Caring for Families
When a Child is Dying
was produced by Beth Seyda
and Erica Rothman. Beth
Seyda runs a market research
consulting business and is
the mother of a critically
ill infant who died. Erica
Rothman is a psychotherapist
and independent filmmaker.
Her previous video is
Those Who Stay Behind: When
a Family Member is Dying.
Beth Seyda and Erica Rothman
are both community members
of the UNC Hospitals Ethics
Committee in Chapel Hill,
NC.
Community Coalition
Spotlight
Kansas City, MO The Kansas City
Coalition to Improve
End-of-Life Care launched an
ambitions array of
activities in conjunction
with Finding Our Way:
Living with Dying in America.
Some 50 citizens attended a
kick-off forum that featured
hospice, palliative care and
advance care planning
experts. Best-selling author
Mitch Albom was the keynote
speaker at a conference,
“Journey to Life’s End.”
Chris Cruzan White and Rev.
Emanuel Cleaver also spoke
at the conference to a crowd
of over 500. Two “Caring
Conversations” workshops, a
palliative care and pain
professional education
seminar and a Compassion
Sabbath workshop also were
part of the daylong
conference. The Kansas City
Star and KCPT-TV, a public
television station, gave
extensive coverage to these
activities, and the Star
published three full-page
articles related to
Finding Our Way. Thanks
to Carolen Collins for the
report.
For more information on
Caring Conversations
workshops and to learn about
the Caring Conversations
Workbook offered by The
Midwest Bioethics Center,
visit
http://www.midbio.org/mbc-cc.htm.
For more information about
the Compassion Sabbath
programs created by a
collaboration between The
Midwest Bioethics Center and
Kansas City faith community
leaders, visit
http://www.midbio.org/cs/index.htm
Cape Cod, MA
The Center for Life Care,
Planning and Support, a
Program of Hospice and
Palliative Care of Cape Cod,
Inc. is sponsoring a month
long series of events
through Lifecare
Conversations 2001, the
first of what will be an
annual event for the group.
The events were kicked off
on November 2nd with a
breakfast gathering for
Hospice and Palliative Care
of Cape Cod staff and a
luncheon gathering for
volunteers, donors and
interested community
members. Both events
featured Rabbi Earl A.
Grollman. Additionally, as
part of this annual effort,
the group is planning to
present seven staged
readings of the play Vesta.
This play examines the
issues of aging, caregiving
and illness and is focused
around the life of an
elderly woman named Vesta.
Thanks to Sally Okun for
this report.
Florida Partnership for
End-of-Life Care
The community coalitions
that make up the Florida
Partnership have been busily
involved in activities
surrounding the Finding
Our Way series. The
Partnership’s Robyn Chase
reports that the entire
series is being published in
the South Lake Press and the
Mid-Florida Press. These are
weekly papers that serve
Lake and Sumter counties.
Robyn tells us that the
credit for this success goes
to the Lake/Sumter
Coalition.
The Marion County Coalition
has successfully rallied for
the entire series to be
featured in three
publications that serve
Marion and surrounding
counties beginning this
month.
Unfortunately, the Indian
River County Coalition was
unable to gain cooperation
from a local paper. However,
this innovative coalition
took matters into their own
hands. They have distributed
copies of the articles to
public libraries and family
health clinics in their
area. Copies also were
distributed during November
in the end-of-life
informational booths located
in two area hospitals.
Congratulations go out to
each of the community
coalitions!
Also, remember to write us
at
steeringcommittees@bballard.com.
How else will we be able to
share the great work you’re
doing with others who need
to hear about it to be
inspired, refreshed,
motivated…?
Are You Using the
Articles in Your
Newsletters?
Remember that the Finding
Our Way articles,
resources and sidebars can
be reprinted by YOU in YOUR
Newsletters? To obtain the
texts send an email to
Sherri Roff at
findingourway123@aol.com.
Please use them. They can be
handouts at meetings you
attend or inserts into a
community or church
bulletin. The point is to
get the information out
there so we can all better
come to terms with dying in
America.
