End of Life Education is the name decided on for the meetings arranged by a volunteer group of concerned community members who want to complete their lives with the same quality and responsibility as they lived. We will be meeting for several months and are discussing all topics related to the end of life.
In July, we will meet two consecutive Mondays, July 15 and 22, with the time being 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. using the library’s large meeting room. If you would like to bring cookies, coffee and tea will be available.
On July 15, we will have a different guest speaker than was mentioned in the recent SUN article. The new speaker is Caryn Hill, a Medicare counselor from the San Juan Basin Area Agency on Aging.
She will be telling us about hospice care available in Archuleta County that is covered by Medicare. Hospice is a very important end-of-life option. She has a strong background in human services with much information to share on aging and end of life. After her talk, she will answer questions and we will have discussion time.
We will also meet the following Monday, July 22, at the same time and same location to hopefully have another guest speaker (it is not 100 percent confirmed ) talking about some big problems that can happen when a family totally disagrees on end-of-life options. We hopefully will learn about how to avoid going to court and having the end of life for your loved one become national news.
Dr. Joanna Estes will be speaking in August, around the middle of the month. The date is not yet certain because the library does not schedule the use of their meeting room so far ahead.
Estes is an amazing woman who will share relevant information from her long experience of being an MD and dealing with death. Her main emphasis will be Colorado’s End of Life Options Act, which covers access to medical aid at the end of life. She will answer questions.
An article will be published in the SUN as soon as the date and time is known. She will also sign do-not-resuscitate forms that require a doctor’s signature on July 15 and also on the date in August that she is speaking.
Feel welcome to join us. We have been meeting for four months, but participation varies for each speaker and time. We are not a closed group.
End of life is a difficult topic which seems to be better handled when fellow humans join together to deal with it, since all of us are faced with it. Most people find that topics like this are empowering and helpful for living life to the fullest. It can be very positive and affirming. We hope to see you.
