‘Being Mortal’ Seminar Addresses Challenges of Caregiving, Quality of Life
Bethlehem Lutheran Church will host a Conversation That Matters, a seminar based on the best-selling book, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, by Atul Gawande, M.D. The focus will be on conversation that is bold, honest, necessary, hard, life-giving and faithful. Subjects will include life, aging, illness, medicine, choice and what really matters.
The seminar will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 1145 N. 5th Ave. St. Charles.
All are welcome.
The goal is to engage all those involved with care and decision making for parents, spouse or family members who might worry about what the future holds. The conversation will also address “quality of life” versus “quantity of life” issues for caregivers as well as those experiencing effects from aging or illness.
“We want to offer an opportunity for healthcare providers and caregivers to weigh what’s really important to their patients. Conversations of that nature are really rare,” says Kelly Collins, director of care and connection at Bethlehem Lutheran Church.
The seminar will also address the challenges of professional caregivers seeking to better understand and communicate with patients, and who would like to be equipped to offer patients helpful resources in having conversation that matters.
“One of the difficult challenges is making decisions about medical intervention at the end of life,” Collins relates. “But it can be hard communicating with family members. You always want to know what is important to your parents, spouse or loved ones, but conversations about matters of death and dying are hard to start and family members don’t always want to hear them.”
Another perspective is how to effectively approach aging, illness and end of life knowing your options for care and assistive living resources, and how to approach aging and end of life with more faith, less fear.
“We welcome pastors or ministry lay people who accompany individuals and families through illness and difficult decisions,” Collins said.
The seminar will also highlight and provide a variety of hands-on tools for having con- versation that matter and planning for end of life issues. .
To register of for more information on the seminar, which includes a catered lunch, visit the Bethlehem Church website or call the church at 630-584-2199.
About Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church is a congregation of the ELCA, located in the far western suburbs of the Chicago Metropolitan area in Northeastern Illinois.
