Medical Aid in Dying Stories & Program Updates

January Event – Stories of Assisted Dying

On January 26th at 7pm (via zoom) EOLCNY is hosting a discussion with author Mara Buchbinder about how patients, caregivers, and health care providers navigate assisted death.

One in five Americans now live in a jurisdiction where medical aid in dying is legal. Despite significant growth in legalization movements over the past few years, the practical realities of new policies often fall short of advocacy visions. In this lecture, award-winning medical anthropologist Mara Buchbinder will present findings from her recently published book, Scripting Death: Stories of Assisted Dying in America, which foregrounds previously hidden narratives about assisted dying. The book offers an unprecedented, in-depth account of how patients, caregivers, and health care providers navigate assisted death in the aftermath of legalization and explores the cultural power of assisted death in the United States today.

Registration grants you access to this event and a 30% off coupon code to purchase the book. Tickets are $15 and all funds go to support the mission of End of Life Choices New York. 

Click here to register

Dementia and End of Life Care

With support of the Wallerstein Foundation, End of Life Choices New York developed webinars on advance care planning for dementia. Dementia currently affects more than 10% of those 65 years of age and older and the number is increasing. It is predicted that by 2050, 14 million people will be living with dementia in America. Advance care planning is crucial. In collaboration with community organizations, we have offered these webinars to caregivers, individuals with an early diagnosis of dementia or mild cognitive impairment, and others who would greatly benefit from receiving this information. We are also working on recordings of these presentations in English and Spanish and look forward to sharing these with you once available later this year.

End of Life Education for Incarcerated New Yorkers

End of Life Choices New York has collaborated with Prisoner’s Legal Services of New York (PLSNY) to raise awareness of advance directives amongst New York’s incarcerated population. PLSNY’s mission is, “To provide high quality, effective legal representation and assistance to indigent prisoners, help them to secure their civil and human rights and advocate for more humane prisons and for a more humane criminal justice system.” As part of their work, six times a year, PLSNY publishes a newsletter (called Pro Se) which reaches thousands of incarcerated New Yorkers. Pro Se provides updates on relevant laws and cases and other pertinent information. EOLCNY collaborated with PLSNY to prepare an article on the Health Care Proxy form, which was published this month. In addition, EOLCNY prepared a longer version of the article which will become a part of PLSNY’s client educational materials and accompany the Health Care Proxy Form. You can access the article here (page 4).