Friends Of Hospice To Hold ‘End Of Life’ Forum
Friends of Hospice is getting set to hold the first in a series of forums on end of life decisions entitled “Conversations on Being Mortal” tomorrow [April 29], based on the book Being Mortal by Atul Gawande.
A spokesperson said, “End of Life is an inevitable last step for all of us, and should be of concern to all of us. We tend to think that we have until we are in our 60’s, 70’s or even 80′s before we have cross that bridge.
“Much younger people should also be considering what you want in end of life – it isn’t necessarily about having a will, though that would be a good start. A living will would also be important for medical decisions; hooked to machines if nothing can be done, having everything medically available provided no matter what your quality of life will be?
“How do we as community raise the awareness of End of Life issues? What is our attitude toward grief and/or grief relief, death and the dying in Bermuda and how do these attitudes impact and affect us in the way we live our lives here and now? Do we know the decisions of loved ones in their end of life choices?
“How can we respect those decisions? What do we need to do now, as individuals and community, to improve our attitude and better prepare ourselves for the inevitable – a life which ultimately must experience “death” in the end? Is it possible to have a good death? Is it possible to really live until we die?
“These are just some of the questions that we want to provide food for thought. We will have four panelists who will provide their insight of their personal and professional experiences, including Dr. Sharon Alikhani – Palliative and Hospice Care Physician; Dr. David Harries – Gerontologist; Harry Kessaram – Lawyer; and Tawanna Wedderburn – CEO of BHeC.”
Cathy Belvedere, Executive Director of Friends of Hospice, said, ”We are hoping that this will be the first in a series of conversations about death and dying.
“We also hope that there will be a groundswell of community collaboration that will be a part of a movement to identify topics that we need to include to provide support, but first, we have to have a conversation.”
“There are only a few spots left; please join us on Saturday, April 29 from 4.00pm to 6.00pm at Peace Lutheran Church Hall on South Road in Paget [across from the Botanical Gardens].”
For more information, contact Cathy Belvedere, Executive Director of Friends of Hospice, on 232-0859 or at cathy.belvedere@hospice.bm.
Read More About
Category: All
