In observance of National Healthcare Decisions Day, Healthy Peninsula’s “Choices That Matter” campaign and the Blue Hill Library will sponsor a film screening of Consider the Conversation and host a panel discussion about advance care planning on Thursday, April 19th at 6:00 PM. On Saturday, April 21st, from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM, retired local M.D. Susan Ostertag and retired clinical psychologist Barbara Sinclair will be available at the library for drop-in help with those working on filling out paperwork relating to end-of-life healthcare wishes.
Consider the Conversation: A Documentary on a Taboo Subject provides a 360-degree view on end-of-life care. It features the perspectives of three terminally ill patients in their 50’s and the professionals who typically care for these kinds of people – doctors, nurses, social workers and clergy – as well as national experts. It covers the questions we all need to think about and answer for ourselves, with regard to making and documenting our end-of-life wishes so that loved ones know how to proceed when the time comes.
The panel will consist of Dr. Jim Vankirk (EMHS Hospice & Palliative Care), Robin Hirsh-Wright, LCSW (VNA Palliative Care), Reverend Gary Vencill, pastor emeritus of Brooksville United Methodist Church, and Barbara Sinclair (Clinical Psychologist, retired). They will provide information on how to obtain the forms that document their end of life wishes, which people can get help with on the following Saturday. These programs are free and open to everyone. For more information call the library at 374-5515.
