Comfort or Conflict in End-of-Life Care: A Discussion About What’s Missing With Advance Directives

On May 24 at 6pm the Center for Communication in Medicine (CCM) will present a hybrid community education program Comfort or Conflict in End-of-Life Care: A Discussion About What’s Missing With Advance Directives live at the Bennington Performing Arts Center and streamed online at speaksooner.org. The evening will include an exclusive screening of PROGNOSIS- notes on living, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.

In the documentary, Academy Award winning filmmaker Debra Chasnoff responds to her diagnosis of a life-threatening disease by turning the camera on herself, her wife and their chosen family. The film has been described as “clear-eyed and unsentimental, what results is an emotionally raw, funny and profoundly intimate present-tense diary of a life fiercely lived, and a love worth fighting for.”

The documentary PROGNOSIS- notes on living provides a valuable example of an ongoing process in exploring treatment options, quality of life considerations and how end-of-life care can look. The film will be a springboard for our panel to offer multiple perspectives on this critical community conversation about what matters at the end of life and whether advance directives stand the test of time.

Our panelists: primary care physician Michael Welther, MD; patient Jenna Peeler, attorney John Whalen; and social worker Nancy Iserman, MSW will bring their personal and professional experience to a discussion surrounding these important issues. CCM Executive Director, Bernard Bandman, PhD will moderate.

The event is free and open to the public.

Register to attend in person or online at speaksooner.org.

Watch the trailer below!