New Hampshire Hospital Association

On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying

OPPORTUNITIES TO VIEW THE SERIES:
"On Our Own Terms" aired on PBS and NHPTV in the Fall 2000. Videotaped copies of the program are available through PBS, NHPTV or contact the Foundation. Additionally, several organizations around the state will partner with the Foundation to host viewings and discussion groups over the next few months Contact Shawn LaFrance if you'd like to host or attend a discussion group in your community.

ON OUR OWN TERMS : Moyers on Dying

Program I: Living with Dying
Modern medical advances have allowed us to live longer lives, but they have also prolonged the process of dying. We face increasingly complicated choices as individuals and as a society regarding end-of-life issues. In this program, Bill Moyers interviews patients, their families, and their caregivers as they make decisions about the quality of their final days. It focuses on people who are searching for ways to recognize and talk about dying as more than a medical event.

Program II: A Different Kind of Care
Increasingly, patients with terminal illnesses are being treated by palliative care doctors, who shift their focus from prolonging life to helping patients live as comfortably as possible, emphasizing a full spectrum of pain management, symptom relief and support including physical, psychological and spiritual care. Moyers reports on the work of several caregivers to provide comfort care to their dying patients.

Program III: A Death of Ones Own
To many, dying well means a measure of control over how we die. We fear dying in pain, we fear that too much will be done to keep us alive, or we fear that not enough will be done. What are the options? Who makes the choices? When is the right moment for final decisions? This program looks at issues surrounding efforts to control how we die-including physician-asssisted suicide- and the implications for family, institutions and communities. Moyers documents three individuals and their families struggles to make decisions regarding if and how they can control their deaths.

Program IV: A Time to Change
This program follows crusading individuals who are working to change public policy to improve care of the dying. Moyers reports on an extraordinary public hospital program in Birmingham, Alabama that offers an inspiring model for what health care could be for the dying and their families. This episode also illustrates the many obstacles that a growing movement to improve care for the dying faces, such as coverage of costs for the uninsured.

Beginning A National Conversation
Each year, half the US population is touched by the death of a relative or close friend. Isn't it time we talk about it? Communities and individuals are working to improve the care of the dying and to address their fears and concerns including:

Fear of dying in pain Concern about being a burden on family and loved ones >Acute financial stress Fear of dying alone Loss of control and dignity

People are asking themselves if there is a better way to die: a way that allows people to approach the difficult circumstances and complex choices on their own terms.
Together, we can promote discussion at the dinner table, in school, in houses of worship, in libraries and town halls, at hospitals and doctors offices, and at work on the many ethical, financial, spiritual, and medical issues surrounding end-of-life care.

On Our Own Terms Web Site
For additional information check the ON OUR OWN TERMS Web Site at www.pbs.org/onourownterms. The site includes a bulletin board, downloadable materials, a list of national organizations participating in the program, and other campaign information.

Founded by the New Hampshire Hospital Association
Foundation For Healthy Communities 125 Airport Road Concord, NH 03301
phone (603) 225-0900 • fax (603) 225-4346 • email: info@nhha.org