NEWSLETTER |
Issue #18: A Final Goodbye
Contents:
1. Share Your Results
2. The Newsletter Ends . . .
3. . . . But Your Efforts Don't Have To
4. Check The Website For Examples Of Sustainable Efforts
5. Upcoming Opportunities For Action
6. A Final Thank You
1. SHARE YOUR RESULTS
All of us on the On Our Own Terms outreach and production teams are overwhelmed by the response to the series. We are astounded by what we are learning about your efforts. There were a broad range of activities that surrounded the series and the commitment of you and your team on the local level truly turned this broadcast into a national call to action.
We want to ensure that others know about what we have accomplished together. We have already heard from many of you -- through emails, postings on the discussion boards, letters and phone calls -- but we are eager to hear more. Please be sure and send a report on your results to your contact on the outreach team or post it on the boards at http://www.thirteen.org/onourownterms/talk.html#3. You can also email your results to moyersoutreach@bballard.com.
2. THE NEWSLETTER ENDS . . .
Though we have accomplished a great deal already, we hope the 300+ steering committees will continue to work to improve care in their communities. Many organizations are positioned to help you do this -- Last Acts, Partnership for Caring, and others. The January conference sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is a perfect opportunity to meet others who have worked so hard on this effort and to develop your own follow-up plans. Following the conference, an organization will be selected to act as a resource for you in this continuing effort. Though the On Our Own Terms effort has officially ended with this final newsletter, this listserve will be managed by the new organization and the movement will continue.
3. . . . BUT YOUR EFFORTS DON'T HAVE TO
Many steering committees are already planning future activities. Below is a sample of what dedicated volunteers have planned through the end of the year:
San Diego is planning an advanced directives campaign around Thanksgiving called "Let's Talk Turkey." This program will help families talk about end-of-life issues.
The Georgia Coalition for Quality End-of-Life Choices is planning outreach to the business community and is planning specific follow-up ideas.
In the Des Moines libraries, you'll find another book discussion:
Starting the Conversation. . . at 2:00PM, Monday, November 20, 2000 at the Forest Avenue Library
The Western Pennsylvania End-of-Life Partnership has scheduled a number of community discussions throughout the Pittsburgh metropolitan and Western Pennsylvania area.
Maine Public Broadcasting, is sponsoring an On Our Own Terms call-in program on November 29th at 8:00PM.
The University of Indiana in Indianapolis is having a faculty forum on December 7th.
4. CHECK THE WEBSITE FOR EXAMPLES OF SUSTAINABLE EFFORTS
There were also a number of activities in September and October. Take a moment to visit the web sites of some of the steering committees to see what other coalitions are up to:
Iowa: http://www.iptv.org/onourownterms/
San Diego: http://www.sdcoalition.org/moyersinfo.htm
Pittsburgh: http://www.eolp.org
Maryland: http://www.mpt.org/spotlight/hospice/home.shtml
Milwaukee: http://www.mptv.org/
Indianapolis: http://www.wfyi.org/ooot/ooot_webresources.htm
Philadelphia: http://www.widerhorizons.org/
Cleveland: http://www.wviz.org/moyers/home.html
Georgia: http://www.finalchoices.org/
Arizona: http://www.kaet.asu.edu
If your steering committee has a web site, let us know by sending the link to moyersoutreach@bballard.com.
5. UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION
Perhaps you are hoping to organize around additional television programs. Last Acts can help -- they have identified a number of broadcasts that will focus on end of life in the coming weeks. Public Television will offer To Live Until I Die, a one-hour broadcast that originally aired in 1999 and will be offered again to stations, via satellite, on December 18th. Check in with your public television station to learn whether they are planning to continue their own efforts by rebroadcasting On Our Own Terms or by airing To Live Until I Die. Commercial television offers some possibilities as well. Every Wednesday night, ABC brings end-of-life issues into the home through Gideon's Crossing. You might also focus on City of Angels on CBS which will feature two story lines on end-of-life in their November 30th program.
6. A FINAL THANK YOU
You have all done an extraordinary job. We all want to thank you and commend you for your work. Your work is a model for any similar future efforts. Your organizations, your colleagues, so many volunteers, and all those partnerships you nurtured made On Our Own Terms an extraordinary public television event. Thank you for working with us to engage the public in an important conversation of national significance and promote change on the local level. Evidence from around the country continues to come in and we plan to share it with you once we have had the opportunity to evaluate it all. Your leadership made you both an important resource for the people in your community and for all of us whose work would be diminished without you.
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