Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice, in collaboration with Mt. Laurel Home for Funerals and Aleph Home Care, is offering two free community screenings of the documentary “Being Mortal.” After each screening, audience members may participate in a guided conversation on communicating wishes about end-of-life goals and preferences with family and health care professionals.
The first screening will take place on Sept. 8, at 6:30 p.m. at the Mt. Laurel Home for Funerals, 212 Ark Road, Mt Laurel.
Those interested can RSVP at (856) 234–6900 or mountlaurelhomeforfunerals@comcast.net
The second screening will take place on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Jewish Federation of SNJ Family Activity Center, 1301 Springdale Road, 2nd Floor, Cherry Hill.
Those interested can RSVP at (856) 552–3258 or ccorti@SamaritanNJ.org.
“Being Mortal” aired nationally on PBS Frontline in February 2015 and was recently nominated by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for this year’s Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Programming. The film is adapted from Boston surgeon Dr. Atul Gawande’s 2014 nationally best-selling book of the same name.
“Being Mortal” follows Gawande as he explores the relationships doctors have with patients who are nearing the end of life. The film investigates the practice of caring for the dying, and shows how doctors are often remarkably untrained and uncomfortable talking about chronic illness and death with their patients. The film also depicts the moving story of Gawande’s personal experiences with his father who died of cancer.
“Being Mortal” underscores the importance of people planning ahead and talking with family members about end-of-life decisions. Seventy percent of Americans say they would prefer to die at home, but nearly 70 percent die in hospitals and institutions. Ninety percent of Americans know they should have conversations about end-of-life care, yet only 30 percent have done so.
The free screenings are made possible by a grant from The John and Wauna Harman Foundation in partnership with the Hospice Foundation of America that selected Samaritan to coordinate screenings in southern New Jersey.
For more information about the free screenings, contact Christine Corti, Samaritan communications specialist, at (856) 552–3258 or ccorti@SamaritanNJ.org or visit SamaritanNJ.org and click on events.
Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice, based in Marlton and now building a free standing center in Voorhees, is a not-for-profit, non-sectarian, independent organization providing hospice care, palliative (comfort) medicine, grief support and counseling, and end-of-life education, and advocacy.
