Community Topics

What is palliative medicine?
Living wills and advance directives
Hospice: an overview for the public
Breaking bad news
Difficult family conversations
Managing end-of-life symptoms: the better choice than physician-assisted suicide
Grief and bereavement
Withdrawing futile therapies
Maintaining hope

Breathing Lessons - A thought-provoking look at life through the eyes of a poet/journalist struggling with life-long physical disability.
Grief in America - The moving stories of seven people who have experienced losses from prolonged illnesses or unanticipated events such as heart attach, murder or suicide. Nationally recognized authorities on grieving provide insights on common myths about grieving, the importance of social supports, the impact of ethnic traditions regarding grief, and the social costs of unresolved grief.
Healing by Killing - A disturbing film about German physician participation and complacency in the Nazi concentration camps during WW II and current medical education.
Alzheimer's Disease - Through the stories of three families, the video demonstrates practical strategies for keeping people with Alzheimer's engaged in life and for helping to delay the onset of more severe symptoms. Prominent physicians explain the different stages of the disease as well as the impact of the disease on families and society.
A Fate Worse Than Death? - This film follows several families through the process of deciding whether to withdraw artificial life support from a loved one in a coma or vegetative state.

For more information, call the program office at (570) 271-7383 or e-mail PallMed@geisinger.edu