The Conversation Project 
February 25, 2020
Video: Ellen Goodman Talks Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease
 

Ellen Goodman and her mother spoke about everything except one thing: how her mother wanted to live at the end of her life. Watch this moving video where Ellen shares her personal experience of caring for her mom who had dementia.

"I didn't know how important it was to have these conversations early..."


Ideas and Resources for National Healthcare Decisions Day: Join the Movement!


Looking for ideas for National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD)? Thousands of local, state and national groups across the country are gearing up and either starting to or are already knee-deep in planning for April 16th .  Numerous groups over the year have been sharing their plans with us. We've compiled ideas based off these fabulous champions' plans that we hope will get you started.  Click here to read more.
 
11 Must Read Books About Death and End-of-Life Care

Writers from all walks of life continue to lead their readers to mingle with death-get to know it from a distance. They urge readers to familiarize themselves with their inevitable acquaintance (so to speak). Below is a list of books that our audience has recommended to us. Each book, written through vastly different lenses, offer the idea that by confronting death, we all will be more likely to live life with a little bit more intention. Click here to read more.

With Dementia, More is Needed than a Boilerplate Advance Directive

"If there was one silver lining in my father's  difficult, medically -prolonged  decline 
it is  this: It showed me the havoc dementia can wreak not only on the life of the afflicted person, but on family caregivers. And it encouraged me to think more explicitly about my values and the peculiar moral and medical challenges posed by dementia."

Click here to read Katy Butler's powerful piece where she shares how her family's experiences with death have informed her end-of-life wishes. In it, she offers a letter to her future advocate; a letter that clearly states her decisions; a letter that frees her loved ones of any guilt and confusion.
Upcoming Opportunity!

On March 25th , IHI will launch an Action Community for health systems to accelerate adoption of the 4Ms (What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility) in a virtual and in-person learning community with other health systems. The goal of the Action Community is to describe how your team will practice the 4Ms and to be recognized as an Age-Friendly Health System.
 
In an Age-Friendly Health Systems Action Community, teams from different health systems come together to accelerate their work of putting the 4Ms into practice. During the 7-month virtual and in-person learning community, a team will test the 4Ms Framework in their health system or practice. There is no fee to participate.

Engage with TCP on Social Media


As the TCP initiative continues to grow, we want to ensure that we are posting, sharing and producing online content that is relevant and useful to you. Follow us on our various social media platforms ( Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest) and let us know what you think! What do you want to see from us? What are we doing well? What can we do better? Follow us and share your thoughts!
Download Our Free Kits & Order in Bulk!

The Conversation Starter Kit is a useful tool to help you have the conversation with a family member, friend, or other loved one about your - or their - wishes regarding end-of-life care. It is available in several languages.  All of the Starter Kits are available to download and print for free.


News Round Up: What We're Reading
Want to connect? Email us at ConversationProject@ihi.org 


STAY CONNECTED:
The Conversation Project is dedicated to helping people talk about their wishes for end-of-life care. Our free Starter Kit can help you talk to your loved ones about this difficult topic.