Amy Berman to Present "Quality of Life or Quantity of Life? Making Choices"
Grand Valley State University’s Seidman School of Business, Making Choices Michigan and Priority Health have teamed up to host an event for the general public and the business and health community to explore the importance of personal choice in the care one receives and how that care fulfills one’s personal goals of care whether that be quality or quantity of life. Together they are hosting Amy Berman, a New York City nurse and Hartford Foundation Senior Program Officer, diagnosed at a young age with inflammatory breast cancer, who earned national attention when she published an essay that argued that quality of life was more critical to her than traditional treatment, and that she would forgo aggressive chemotherapy. Her primary message is that patient goals of care and preferences have to be taken into consideration in making treatment decisions. Ms. Berman will be joined on stage by several local experts to have a dialogue about the having the conversation with your family about end-of-life plans, documenting your wishes, and much more.
Talking about the end-of-life is a very tough conversation to have. In a recent survey by the California HealthCare Foundation, 60% of people say that making sure their family is not burdened by tough decisions is “extremely important,” yet 56% have not communicated their end-of-life wishes. Even more worrisome is that health care providers are often asked to provide care without understanding what the patients’ preferences are. That’s why Grand Valley State University’s Seidman School of Business, Making Choices Michigan and Priority Health have teamed up to host an important lecture about the importance of making choices early and letting your choices be known; this is an event for the general public and the business and health community to explore the importance of personal choice in the care one receives and how that care fulfills one’s personal goals of care whether that be quality or quantity of life. Together they are hosting Amy Berman, a New York City nurse and Hartford Foundation Senior Program Officer, diagnosed at a young age with inflammatory breast cancer, who earned national attention when she published an essay that argued that quality of life was more critical to her than traditional treatment, and that she would forgo aggressive chemotherapy. Her primary message is that patient goals of care and preferences have to be taken into consideration in making treatment decisions. Ms. Berman will be joined on stage by several local experts to have a dialogue about the having the conversation with your family about end-of-life plans, documenting your wishes, and much more. The panelists include:
- Amy Berman, RN, senior program officer, The John A. Hartford Foundation
- Julie Wallace, Patient Advisor Spectrum Health Ethics Committee, Spectrum Health Advanced Care Planning Steering Committee
- John Mulder, Vice President, Medical Services, Faith Hospice; Medical Director, MetroHealth Palliative Care
- Ben Emdin, President, Making Choices Michigan
The event is free.
When: February 10, 2014 from 6 – 8 p.m. Refreshments served at 5:20 PM.
Where: Grand Valley State University’s Seidman Forum Room in the new Seidman of College Building
Please RSVP to Robbi Osipoff at osipoffr@gvsu.edu. Limited seating is available. For more information visit www.makingchoicesmichigan.com
The event is hosted by: Grand Valley State University Seidman School of Business, Making Choices Michigan and Priority Health
