On Tuesday, April 16th, in honor of National Healthcare Decisions Day, The Conversation Project in Boulder County, a TRU program, hosted an event that featured Cello, a short film about a renowned musician facing a terminal diagnosis and navigating important end-of-life conversations. The film showing was followed by a discussion with a panel that included the film’s producers and others working in end-of-life care. The event, which took place at The Dairy Arts Center’s Boedecker Theatre, sold out quickly, necessitating a second showing and panel discussion that evening.
TRU and The Conversation Project in Boulder County (a program of TRU) hosted this event to encourage people to think about and communicate their end-of-life healthcare values and wishes with those most important to them. We hope the program motivated our guests to consider their choices and start the conversation.
We reached 130 attendees who engaged actively with our carefully selected panel which, in addition to Cello producers, Helen Nightengale and Alex Craven, included:
Jean Abbott, a retired physician, co-founder of The Conversation Project in Boulder County, and member of TRU Community Care’s Ethics Committee.
Kim Mooney, an internationally-recognized thanatologist and educator and co-founder of The Conversation Project in Boulder County.
Claire Riley, RN, MS, a former member of TRU’s Ethics Committee and a coach and advisory board member for The Conversation Project. Claire is also on the governing Board at TRU.
Linda Wallace, who helped start Bristlecone Hospice serving Summit and Eagle counties and shas since served as a hospice volunteer and companion to individuals navigating end-of-life choices.
Susan Wilhoit, MD, a hospice and palliative medicine physician and a death doula and a National Medical Director at Compassion and Choices. This summer, she will launch a full-spectrum end-of-life practice, Rocky Mountain Compassionate Care.
Please see our panelists’ full bios here.
Sometimes it is hard to know where to start when considering your end-of-life choices; you may struggle with identifying a healthcare agent or knowing what advance care planning forms to fill out. The Conversation Project in Boulder County (TCPBC) offers free advance care planning coaching.
Learn more at theconversationprojectinboulder.org or by contacting Becki Parr at beckiparr@truecare.org.
Cello is available to watch on Vimeo for $2.99.
