Begin with the End in Mind: A three-part workshop series to facilitate end-of-life discussions with members of the community

ABSTRACT

Death is among the most avoided topics of conversation. Although end-of-life planning may greatly benefit individuals and their survivors, research and practice indicate that family, friends, and even health care providers resist discussing end-of-life plans. Consequences of not planning ahead have created a public health issue. This article describes a community-level intervention that facilitates those necessary conversations among elders who have at least begun to talk with others about their wishes. A free, three-part educational workshop series on end-of-life planning titled “Begin with the End in Mind” was developed at a midwestern university. A survey was distributed to all attendees to learn about their beliefs regarding end-of-life planning. Inductive content analysis was used to understand participants’ thoughts about discussing end-of-life planning. Findings from 33 participants suggest a concern about making plans and ensuring others would follow their wishes. In conclusion, this article offers a roadmap for gerontologists and others to use in engaging the community to think about and act on end-of-life public health issues.

KEYWORDS:

• Advance directives
• death awareness
• death education
• end-of-life education

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the following people for their help with this series: Dr. Tom Osborne, Maria Sorick, David Bolte, Charley Steed, Tom Belford, Dr. Helen Chappel, Shane Kotok, Margaret Schaefer, Ron Jensen, and Dr. Domingo Maynes for their participation in this series. The authors thank Drs. Judy Howe, Kelly Niles-Yokum, and the anonymous reviewers of this article. Moreover, the authors thank Linnea Fredrickson for her assistance with editing.