"Once again, this Thanksgiving we are grateful to all the people who keep this mission alive day after day: to ensure that each and every one of us understands, communicates, and has honored their end of life wishes.
Seems almost more fitting than usual this year – the year of
making change happen. 2011 gave us the
Arab Spring – people on the ground using social media to organize a real
political revolution. And now – love it or hate it – it’s the Occupy Wall
Street movement that’s got people talking.
Smart people (like our
good friend Susannah Fox have
made the point that unlike those political and economic movements, our mission
isn’t an issue we need to raise our
fists about…it’s an issue we have the luxury of being able to hold hands about.
It’s a mission that’s driven by all the personal stories
we’ve heard of people who’ve seen their loved ones suffer unnecessarily at the
end of their lives.
It’s driven by that ripping-off-the-band-aid feeling of
relief you get when you’ve finally broached the subject of end of life wishes
with your family, free from the burden of just not knowing what they’d want for
themselves, and knowing you could advocate for these wishes if your loved one
weren’t able to speak up for themselves.
And it’s driven by knowing that this is a conversation that
needs to happen early, and often. One of
the greatest gifts you can give the ones you love is making sure you’re all on
the same page. In the words of the
amazing Atul Gawande – you only die once! Die the way you want. Make sure your loved
ones get that same gift. And there is a way to engage in this topic with
grace…
Here are the five questions – read them, consider them,
answer them (you can securely save your answers the Engage with Grace site, www.engagewithgrace.org), share your
answers with your loved ones. It doesn’t matter what your answers are, it just
matters that you know them for yourself, and for your loved ones. And they for you.
We all know the power of a group that decides to assemble.
In fact, we recently spent an amazing couple days with the members of the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care -- or C-TAC – working together to channel so
much of the extraordinary work that organizations are already doing to improve
the quality of care for our country’s sickest
and most vulnerable.
Noted journalist Eleanor Clift gave an amazing talk – finding
a way to weave humor and joy into her telling of the story she shared in this Health Affairs article. She elegantly sums up (as only she can) the
reason that we have this blog rally ever y year:
“For too many physicians, that conversation is hard to
have, and families, too, are reluctant to initiate a discussion about what Mom
or Dad might want until they’re in a crisis, which isn’t the best time to make
these kinds of decisions. Ideally, that conversation should begin at the
kitchen table with family members, rather than in a doctor’s office.”
It’s a conversation you need to have wherever and whenever
you can – and the more people you can rope into it, the better!! Make
this conversation a part of your Thanksgiving weekend – there will be a right
moment – you just might not realize how right it was until you begin the
conversation.
This is a time to be inspired, informed…to tackle our
challenges in real, substantive, and scalable ways. Participating in this blog
rally is just one small – yet huge – way that we can each keep that fire
burning in our bellies, long after the turkey dinner is gone.
Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season. Let’s Engage with Grace together."
To learn more please go
to www.engagewithgrace.org.
