Critical Conversations: Expressing Your Wishes

Heavy and heartfelt conversations often need to take place when someone is ill—and, while rarely easy, they can help avoid harder issues down the road. Emphasizing the critical nature of these discussions, this program sets forth very practical approaches to effective communication among patients, family members/friends, and medical teams, including how to express needs and discuss the diagnosis, treatment plans and end-of-life wishes, as well as the “why’s” of having these conversations. Professional chaplains offer their insight, and patients and family caregivers drive home important messages with their own compelling stories. “Once you start opening up like that and other people open up to you, you gather strength from that…” (Paul Makarenko, Patient)