A PRACTICAL COURSE ON PREPARING FOR THE END OF LIFE (20) Saratoga Senior Center, 290 West Ave., SS Education Room.
Thursdays, 9:30-11am, October 8, 15, 22, 29, November 5, 12
This course offers practical information to prepare for the end of life. Topics include advance care planning, communication and ritual, what dying looks like, grief & grieving, writing your obituary, palliative care, hospice and medical aid in dying. Participants will engage in classroom exercises to explore and broaden their lived experience around end-of-life issues.
1. Cultural and personal considerations about death and dying
2. What death looks like; needs of the dying person
3. Communication at the end of life; the use of ritual
4. Advance care planning and medical considerations; palliative care and hospice, VSED, medical aid in dying
5. Tying up loose ends: dealing with unfinished business and regrets as a path to a more peaceful death
6. Practical matters: methods of burial, memorial service, legacy planning, writing your obituary,
TEXT: Suggested reading: Ira Byock, MD; “The Four Things That Matter Most”; Free Press/Simon & Schuster; 10th edition, 2014; ISBN 9781476748535; list price: $27.99; hard cover $14.43. Virginia Chang, PhD; “Preparing For End Of Life For Dummies”; John Wiley & Sons; 2026; ISBN: 9781394362141; list price $24.99; paperback $22.24, Atul Gawande, MD; “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End”; Macmillan, 2014; ISBN 9781250076229; paper back $10.44.Compassion and Choices, advance care planning: https://compassionandchoices.org
Cost: $5 for course handouts
**Bring a notebook, journal or laptop to write in for class reflection.
Leader: Rita Fatula, DNP, RN (ret.) is a retired advance practice nurse (doctorate in nursing). She’s cared for thousands of patients and their families in palliative and hospice settings, both inpatient and at home. She has facilitated numerous discussions with clinical staff, patients and families about goal setting, advance care planning and options for care at the end of life. Rita is also a trained end-of-life doula.