Joliet Area Community Hospice (JACH) hosted a free screening and panel discussion of the PBS Frontline documentary, "Being Mortal," on April 26.
The documentary is based on the book of the same name by Dr. Atul Gawande. It explores the experiences of patients and families facing terminal illness and the decisions they make when near the end of life.
The documentary recognizes how our health care system focuses on cures and often neglects encouraging conversations about what a person’s true priorities are and should be honored at the end of life.
The objective of the evening was to increase awareness of advance care planning and the importance of having end-of-life conversations and planning with your loved ones before a crisis occurs.
Panelists included: Dr. Muhamad Krad, internal medicine Adventist Hospital Bolingbrook and JACH physician; Kelly Derr, Riverside Medical Center ICU; Chris Kelly, registered nurse, JACH director of clinical services; Theresa A. Hipp, JACH director of quality/compliance; and two caregivers/widows of hospice patients Kathy O’Neill, registered nurse, and Gretchen Wilson.
Mary Rossio, JACH business development liaison was moderator.
Mary K. Sheehan, CEO, opened the program stating that JACH is one of the largest hospices in the country (top 5 percent) and in meeting its mission of "Real People, Real Care, Your Family, is open to allowing patients/families to choose what is right for them.
Dying is the one thing we all have in common and although the conversation about planning for it is uncomfortable, it is important to have, she said.
Attendees and panelists interacted with questions, comments and perceptions about the documentary, sharing their personal hospice experiences as well as how they approached end of life conversations with their own family.
“Use the vernacular of your own family dynamics,” Hipp said in a news release. “If your family uses humor often, that might be a good way to start a discussion on end of life priorities.”
One guest asked if the clinical members of the panel have observed differences in cultures at end of life. Krad responded that even within the same race or religion, different choices or wishes exist.
Every patient’s goals at end of life are unique and should be shared with family and physicians, and ultimately their hospice team. That is why preparing Do Not Resuscitate and Health Care Power of Attorney forms and sharing these documents as well as your end of life wishes with family members before a crisis occurs is so important.
Guests at the presentation voiced the concern that the public needs to be educated on what hospice is and how it has changed over the years. Based on the book of the same name, Being Mortal viewings such as this will allow people to learn ways to openly speak about death and how they would like to live their final days. Information about advanced directives is available through Joliet Area Community Hospice.
This program will be offered again this fall at JACH and at other locations throughout the year.
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Joliet Area Community Hospice provides compassionate, professional hospice and palliative care to over 30,000 terminally ill patients and their families since 1982. In the past two years alone, Joliet Area Community Hospice provided over $1.3 million in charity care, community bereavement programs, unreimbursed pediatric hospice and palliative care, and community outreach.
JACH is a not-for-profit corporation, state licensed, Medicare/Medicaid certified and supported by United Way of Will and Grundy Counties. It serves patients in greater Will, Grundy, LaSalle, Livingston and Kendall counties along with portions of Cook, DuPage, and Kankakee counties.
According to its website, JACH
• Has 140 full and part-time employees
• Has 240 trained volunteers
• Serves over 1,800 patients a year
• Operates the first freestanding hospice home in-patient unit in Illinois
• One of few Illinois hospices offering a dedicated pediatric hospice and palliative care team
For more information, call 815-740-4104 or visit www.joliethospice.org.