With Love & Dignity: Compassionate Care

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People often find it difficult to talk about issues pertaining to death. But Advance Care Planning (ACP) is an important part of living for young people as well as old. For a healthy individual, ACP clears up any mystery should an accident or sudden illness occurs. Someone living with a chronic or terminal illness needs to let doctors and family members know what type of extraordinary measures, if any, they would like to be used to sustain their life. For a person who is nearing the end of life, this is an imperative decision.

Hosted by Pat McConahay, this KVIE production encourages people to prepare before a health crisis strikes. Talking with family members, doctors or clergy, and appointing someone to speak on their behalf can help avoid sometimes painful and even legal disputes. Local physicians, nurses, clergy, and individuals are interviewed for this program. We’ll hear from a hospice doctor at the home of one of his patients who is suffering from terminal cancer. We’ll also learn from the patient, herself, why advance care planning has given her a sense of comfort and peace.

The program opens with an interview with Frits Goudberg, the father of a Jesuit High School teenager killed in a tragic accident in Sacramento several years ago. Because of unusual circumstances, Goudberg and his son, Nick, had discussed end-of-life issues early on. Goudberg had undergone life-saving heart transplant surgery when Nick was 12 years old. Explaining to his son the process, both of them discussed openly with one another what they would want should anything ever happen to either. Unfortunately, a tragic auto accident on Nick’s 17th birthday landed him in the hospital, where he was declared brain dead. Knowing Nick’s wishes, his father donated Nick’s organs so others might benefit. The family story is one of courage and is powerful.

With Love & Dignity also includes conversation with former Senator Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) who was one of the original sponsors of California’s Health Care Decisions Week. “By proclaiming “Health Care Decisions Week” in California, we wanted to encourage people to actively engage in health care planning and understand the profound impact that advance directives can have on their health care,” said Ortiz.

Each year the Compassionate Care Alliance and Sacramento Healthcare Decisions sponsor a variety of activities to celebrate Health Care Decisions Week. For a calendar of this year’s special events, visit: www.sachealthdecisions.org.

Suggested reading:

Long Goodbye: The Deaths of Nancy Cruzan,
written by attorney Bill Colby.

Additional information:

"Health Care Decision Week"
Programs from Compassionate Care Alliance and Sacramento Healthcare Decisions

The documentary is funded by

in collaboration with