BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro Memorial Hospital and Brattleboro Area Hospice co-sponsor a workshop on May 19, “How to Talk About the End of Life.”
The public is invited to this free event, scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. in BMH's Brew Barry Conference Room 2.
Organizers said in their event announcement that talking about one's dying is not something most people feel comfortable doing:
“We would rather put it off until we absolutely have to. Even healthcare providers avoid it. This interactive, how-to workshop will include personal stories and examples of the powerful benefits of talking about it.”
The workshop is presented by Diana Barnard, a native Vermonter board-certified in family practice and hospice and palliative care. Following more than 17 years in private practice in Addison County, Barnard is a palliative care medicine physician at Fletcher Allen Health Care - an academic medical center in Burlington - and an assistant professor at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.
Barnard has served on the ethics and palliative care committees and board of Porter Hospital and on the board of Hospice Volunteer Services of Addison County.
Prior to taking her present position, she was the medical director and an active board member of Helen Porter Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Middlebury.
According to Brattleboro Area Hospice Program Coordinator Patty Dunn, “While this is one of the most difficult conversations, it is crucial to understand how to approach conversations about death with loved ones. Talking about end-of-life issues is one of the most important conversations to have with family and health-care providers."
Dunn adds, “Dr. Barnard is a strong and passionate advocate for broaching these conversations with loved ones and healthcare providers. She believes what studies reveal: learning how to have those conversations empowers people to fulfill their personal goals and wishes throughout their lives, through serious illness, and even to life's end.”
Founded in 1979, Brattleboro Area Hospice is an independent, community-based, nonprofit volunteer organization that provides free services to address the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of dying neighbors and their families.
BAH provides non-medical assistance to the terminally ill and their loved ones, offers bereavement services to hospice families as well as the general public, and is a community resource on the issues of death, dying, and grieving.