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The overwhelming response when this program aired last fall proved that Bill Moyers was right: it is important to begin a national dialogue to improve end-of-life care. People are asking themselves if there is a better way to die, a way that allows them to approach these difficult choices on their own terms. In this four-part series, viewers share the intimate, end-of-life journeys of families and their caregivers as they struggle for dignity, comfort and compassion. Bill Moyers leads a national audience to the front of the movement to improve end-of-life care in On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying, airing Sundays at 4 p.m. February 4, 11, 18 and 25, 2001 on Channel 8. Statistics show that each year half the U.S. population is touched by the death of a relative or close friend. For many, the tragedy of a loved one’s death is aggravated by the conflict, crisis and pain that often shadow the end of life. A rising chorus of patients and their families are joining health-care professionals to advocate better care for the dying. But how does America view death and dying ¾ and in whose hands should such choices lie? Filled with honesty and humor, courage and controversy, On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying breaks through the culture of denial to determine ways Americans can die on their own terms. "The stories of these generous people, who let us into their lives at an extraordinarily vulnerable time, help us to understand dying not as a failure, but as a natural part of life," says Moyers. On Our Own Terms begins with a look at America’s multi-ethnic society, where different cultural traditions mesh with distinctly personal values. In trying to provide medical care that respects their patients’ preferences, health-care professionals must navigate situations shaped by complex generational, religious and family attitudes. "In our fragmented society, how do we build a system that will help us tackle the social, financial, spiritual and physical challenges of dying so that we are confident that our experience will be on our own terms and reflect the values we hold dear?" Moyers asks. In the first episode, "Living with Dying," airing February 4, viewers meet Nancy Martinez. Due to a progressive paralysis, she has spent two years on a respirator. Unable to eat, breathe, speak or move, she still wants to live at all costs. When she contracts a treatment-resistant infection, doctors must weigh her oft-stated desire to live against the $2 million cost of her care to their cash-strapped hospital and the risk of her contagious infection, which threatens other patients. In Kansas City, Dr. Bill Bartholome and his family deal head-on with his severe illness. Diagnosed with terminal cancer, Bill and his wife Pam decide to forego what they consider excessive treatments. Bill chooses to live, as he calls it, "in the light of death," focusing on what is important and searching for fulfillment in the experience. The second episode, "A Different Kind of Care," airing February 11, investigates the palliative approach of relieving pain and how that approach is taking root in traditional hospitals. Palliative care is the technical term for an approach that maximizes the relief of pain and other symptoms as well as providing psychological, social and spiritual support at the end of life. At Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York, Dr. Sean Morrison attends to Joyce Kerr, a retired math teacher. As he helps her to understand her choices for treatment and pain relief, Joyce decides to die at home surrounded by her family. Her husband and children support her decision, organizing their lives to care for her. Dr. Morrison’s involvement doesn’t stop at the hospital door. He continues to treat Joyce ¾ and her family ¾ until she takes her last breath. Dr. Morrison’s colleague on the palliative care team is Dr. Diane Meier, who takes viewers on rounds at Mt. Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Meier and her team teach residents, interns and medical students how to care for the dying, how to prescribe pain medication properly, how to deal with the side effects of opiates and how to work with families. Also in this episode, viewers meet 70-year-old Hal Resnick, who has untreatable pancreatic cancer, and witness a heart-wrenching family meeting as Hal, his family and his doctors discuss the transition to palliative care. Viewers additionally meet Dr. Greg Gramelspacher of Wishard Memorial Hospital, a hospital emergency room in Indianapolis. Dr. Gramelspacher tries to apply the techniques of palliative care to provide comfort and dignity to patients with few resources. "You can’t control the inevitability of dying, but people are looking for the opportunity to exert some control over the difficult circumstances and complex choices at the end of life," said Moyers. "Every family has different values, and they want those values to be respected and accommodated. In the third program, "A Death of One’s Own," airing February 18, viewers meet Jim and Susie Witcher, whose choice is not about the right to die, but the way to live. Jim Witcher has ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease. Not only does he want to stay at home despite his progressive and terminal illness, he wants a doctor to hasten his death. Susie is his sole caretaker ¾ and she is haunted by her mother’s death a few years ago in an intensive care unit. While Jim is immobile from the neck down, his voice is still strong. He movingly expresses his choices and discusses the way his options are limited due to financial, physical and legal circumstances beyond his control. To cover his expenses, Jim and Susie have sold part of their farm and their prized horses, and they struggle to maintain their independence. Kitty Rayl battles cancer in Oregon where that state’s Death with Dignity Act gives her a choice that Jim Witcher doesn't have. Kitty, her doctors and her daughters have very different opinions on the option to control the moment of her death. With some opposed and some supporting her choice to die when she wants, they work through the decision in an abiding spirit of cooperation and respect. Comforted by the peace of mind that she has the final control she believes is her right, Kitty ultimately dies of natural causes. The final program of the series, "A Time to Change," airing February 25, offers an inspiring model. At the Balm of Gilead project in Birmingham, Ala., Edwina Taylor, R.N., and her colleague Dr. Amos Bailey are working to introduce hospice ideas into the mainstream of health care. There are obstacles in financing, training and public policy, but the vision offers hope. Dr. Joanne Lynn, a tireless crusader for improving end-of-life care, carries the vision to Washington, D.C., where she presses for political change that is necessary for America to successfully establish a new paradigm for care of the dying. Outreach Underwriters:
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