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Original piece offers unusual approach to difficult conversation
Milwaukee Public Theatre recently received a major grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council to produce and tour From the Start, Consider the Finish, an original musical play that helps families begin the often challenging conversation about end-of-life planning.
From the Start, Consider the Finish, presented by MPT in partnership with Voices Theater, will tell real-life stories in a statewide tour of ten venues in September and October.
Two actors play multiple roles in dramatic sketches. Three talented songwriters wrote original songs that provide a unique approach to this subject. The one-hour performance is informative, entertaining, and often humorous. It will be followed by post-show discussions with professionals in hospice and elder care and accompanied by a resource guide. In addition, a local actor will participate in several scenes at each venue.
Rogers Keene has adapted the play from an award-winning book, The End of Life Advisor-Personal, Legal, and Medical Considerations for a Peaceful, Dignified Death by Susan Dolan and Audrey Vizzard.
A live theatre performance can have a powerful healing effect, providing a warm sense of community and connection among audience members. The presentations will be of interest to those providing health care services, training, or support, as well to families and individuals who want to promote a dialogue about end-of-life issues.
Check the website for updates and specific details on each venue.
Scheduled free performances include:
Saturday, September 10, 7 p.m.
Medford High School Red and White Theatre, Medford
1015 W. Broadway Ave.
Sponsored by Medford Memorial Health Center and Hope Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc.
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) has selected Hope Hospice and Palliative Care in Medford as one of five hospices in the United States to receive a "Reaching Out" grant to help meet the needs of rural and homeless veterans. Grant reviewers from the field evaluated forty proposals submitted to NHPCO.
This grant will be carried out along with Palliative Care Coordinators Jolene Renda, DNP ANP/ CNP at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Tomah and Sheila Schroedl, LCSW at the Veterans Hospital in Madison. This $34,000 grant will enable Hope Hospice and the veteran facility partners to build upon the work we have done with the Hospice and Palliative Experts of Wisconsin Hospice-Veteran Partnership to advocate for veterans with life-limiting or chronic health needs.
Hope Hospice and the Wisconsin Hospice-Veterans partnership has worked to increase awareness of the unique needs of veterans at end of life since 2004 and includes representatives from a number of hospices, VA staff and state veteran homes in Wisconsin.
"As a member of the steering committee for the Hospice-Veteran Partnership, we have worked to pull together training materials to increase awareness of hospice and end of life issues for veterans, exchange information with VA medical centers to provide needed information about hospices in the state and to educate hospice staff about the unique needs of veterans and their families", explained Teri Rostberg, Executive Director of Hope Hospice. "The members of the steering committee have benefited from sharing materials and making connections between hospice agencies and VA facilities to enhance communication when individual patient issues arise."
Through this grant, Hope Hospice and its VA partners will extend the availability and usefulness of these materials by putting them into DVD and audio CD formats. The purpose of the grant is to expand the awareness of end of life issues and the unique needs of veterans and their families to those agencies such as emergency rooms, first responders and aging and disability resource centers and others that may have contact with rural and homeless veterans.
Nearly 40 percent of enrolled veterans live in areas that are considered rural, where a variety of community services and VA palliative care programs are often not readily available. Ensuring that all veterans receive compassionate, quality care at the end-of-life is a priority of Hope Hospice and Palliative Care, NHPCO and the Department of Veterans Affairs Hospice and Palliative Care Program. Project in other states have learned through veteran focus groups that fewer than half surveyed knew the benefits of hospice care or even that hospice care was available to them through the VA healthcare benefit.
"These grants serve a two-fold purpose," said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO. "They support specific, community-based programs and the lessons learned will help the VA in discovering new ways to reach veterans who are homeless or living in rural areas and in need of quality care as they near the end of life."
Funded through a contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Reaching Out grants were created to support innovative programs committed to increasing access to hospice and palliative care for rural and homeless Veterans.
As part of the initiative to reach more Veterans in need of hospice and palliative care, NHPCO in collaboration with the VA created the We Honor Veterans website offering information and resources for organizations interested in better serving Veterans at the end of life. The HOPE of Wisconsin website also has resources available to better serve Wisconsin Veterans.
Hope Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc. is proud to announce the establishment of our Tribute. This giving program will serve as a lasting tribute and monument to honor the memory of a family member or friend, or to recognize a special occasion or achievement.
By making this thoughtful gift you create a remembrance of someone very special, and at the same time further a cause you believe in. There are many reasons and ways to become part of the Tribute. This very special program gives you the opportunity to support Hope Hospice and Palliative Care and its mission of caring for the terminally ill and their families in north central Wisconsin, and provide visible recognition and tribute to a loved one.
Gifts can be made:
The Tribute is not limited to Hospice patients or families. It is open to anyone who would like to remember someone special or celebrate a special occasion. The cost of a tribute is $500. Family members and friends are encouraged to join together and combine their resources to make this a very special tribute.
Contact Hope Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc. for further details or fill out and send in this online tribute purchase form.