"Being Mortal" Film Screening
"Being Mortal" Film Screening
If you thought you were dying, what would matter most? Officials with Tomah Memorial Hospice Touch / Life Choices Palliative Care and the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center Hospice and Palliative Care will help to answer that question during a special program June 2.
A free screening and discussion of the PBS program “Being Mortal” is scheduled Thursday, June 2 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Clinical Recreation Therapy Building (455) at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC).
Tomah Memorial Hospice & Palliative Care director Mary Rezin said partnering with the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center was a logical choice for the event. “One of the requirements to be a screening site was that we partner with another community agency, and my first choice was the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and their excellent Hospice and Palliative Care Team,” said Rezin. “We have been a partner with them for years in the sense of working together to provide services near the end of life to Veterans in our rural communities.”
The film, “Being Mortal” delves into the hopes of patients and families facing terminal illness and investigates the practice of caring for the dying, while exploring the relationships between patients and their doctors. It follows a surgeon, Dr. Atul Gawande, as he shares stories from the people and families he encounters. When Dr. Gawande’s own father gets cancer, his search for answers about how to best care for the dying becomes a personal quest.
After the screening, audience members can participate in a guided conversation on how to take concrete steps to identify and communicate wishes about end-of-life goals and preferences.
Officials say ninety percent of Americans know they should have conversations about end-of-life care, yet only 30 percent have done so.
Hospice Touch / Life Choices Palliative Care medical director Eric Heaney M.D., said the film underscores the importance of people planning ahead and talking with family members about end-of-life decisions.
“In the early stages of an illness people can usually manage well but as disease progresses and treatments become more complex, suffering can increase, options should be discussed, and decisions may need to be made. That is where palliative care can be very helpful,” said Heaney.
He explained that palliative care is a specialty medical service that is offered to patients that have chronic long-term conditions and can be provided in any stage of illness. “The patient can continue to receive full treatment from their family physician and various consulting physicians. Palliative Care is an adjunct that helps when the disease is causing a burden to the patient and the family,” explained Heaney.
In February 2015, “Being Mortal” aired nationally on the PBS program “Frontline.” The film is adapted from Dr. Gawande’s 2014 nationally best- selling book of the same name.
The free screening is made possible by a grant from The John and Wauna Harman Foundation in partnership with the Hospice Foundation of America. Locally, Tomah Memorial Hospice Touch / Life Choices Palliative Care and the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center Hospice and Palliative Care joined forces to present the June 2 screening.
A dessert buffet and refreshments will also be provided following the film and discussion. People planning to attend should watch for signs at the Tomah VA directing them to building 455.
