IT’S NOT ABOUT DEATH; IT’S ABOUT HOW WE CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER

Describing conversations between family members regarding end of life planning during times of critical illness, Dr. Hammes, Director of Respecting Choices says it this way: “The ultimate content of this conversation, I think, isn’t about death.” “Instead,” says Bud Hammes, Ph.D., a medical ethicist at Gundersen Health System, “I think the ultimate topic that’s being discussed is how people care for each other.” To emphasize the point he adds, “and so what comes out at the end of the conversation is, I love you, and now I know how to take good care of you.”

In a wonderful segment recently broadcast on CBS ‘Sunday Morning’ and titled: Being Prepared For The Final Days, Dr. Hammes, was interviewed as the piece opens in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where it was pointed out that, “at last count 96% of the people who had passed away had advance care directives.”  Dean Reynolds, of CBS News, interviews Dr. Hammes who started Respecting Choices more than 20 years ago “after seeing first hand what death was like without it.”

As the segment unfolds they talk “about the importance of families having a conversation with a family member who is critically ill, to understand what your loved one would want and would not want for care as they approach the end of life.”

Seeing this piece broadcast has special meaning for us. Honoring Choices Massachusetts began not long after Kathy Hankel and I, both trained in the Respecting Choices methodology, starting talking about bringing this highly successful program to Massachusetts. Building and expanding on the Respecting Choices program as our educational platform, we customize tools and training for each of our Community Partners so that they can help people care for each other, not only at the end of life, but all through their lives.

Be it a church or synagogue, a primary care doctor or large hospital, any community group or health care provider can integrate the evidence based educational materials and tools into their respective programs. We support each partner individually so that they can help adults start the process of health care planning early, long before a medical crisis. Helping families care for each other, and helping to advocate for those without family or most vulnerable, is the basis of our collaborative mission.

The CBS ‘Sunday Morning’ program can be seen at http://www.cbsnews.com/news/being-prepared-for-the-final-days/

It’s 5 minutes well worth spending for all of us who are invested in health care planning.