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Community Engagement Newsletter June 11, 2019
5 Things We've Heard and Things You Can Do to Ensure Sustainability
In our last quarterly community activity survey, we asked community members to share how they are planning their work (to spread the importance of end-of-life care conversations) so it continues in the long run. People all over the country offered various ideas and examples. Check out this piece that lists the five most common ways groups or individuals are ensuring their work lives on!

Financial advisors can play a vital role in supporting their clients as they plan ahead. Beth Gamel, Managing Director at Argent Wealth Management, exemplifies how a financial advisor can steward clients as they identify and document what matters most to them.

Gamble is no stranger to experiences with death. So when she heard Ellen Goodman talk about The Conversation Project’s message about the importance of end-of-life care conversations, it personally hit home. Her personal experience with loss has informed how she approaches working with her clients.

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Upcoming Community Calls
June 19th 3:00-4:00 PM ET: Community Planning 101
This webinar provides an overview of The Conversation Project and our work in the community. This call will enable you to bring The Conversation Project to individuals in your community where they live, work, and pray by providing you with information on tools and resources available online, guided questions to consider for your region, and examples of how to set and attain specific goals.

July 17th 3:00-4:00 PM ET: Community Planning 201--Lessons on Messaging from the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care
At their May 16th summit, the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care hosted a summit to share the results of their messaging research project. Join us on July 17th as they share these latest findings and learning from their summit, including tested language for engaging the broader public, as well as targeted “segments” of the population, in conversations about what really matters to their life and health. 

Video: Father & Daughter Have the Conversation
We stopped a father and daughter on the street to talk to them about what it was like for them to have the conversation.  Click here to hear what they had to say.
Conversation Ready: Engaging Patients in Advance Care Planning
Register for this online expedition where participants will get the opportunity to learn about the principles of being Conversation Ready. This program is perfect for providers and/or clinicians who want to help institutions implement systems to reliably engage with patients in order to understand what is most important for their end-of-life care, become stewards of this information as well as record, access and respect patients' wishes in a timely way.

May 2019 Recap
In May, The Conversation Project produced and helped disseminate a number of new tools and resources designed to support you as you either have the conversation about what matters most to you or lead the TCP initiative within your community. Check out this blog that consists of a list of our new materials. We hope that you find them useful as you help shift our culture from one that does not address issues of death and dying to one that embraces meaningful discussions about end-of-life.

A Matter of Heart: A Father's Reflections on Advance Care Planning
With Father's Day approaching, we encourage you to give a special dad in your life the gift of conversation. Read this piece by father and physician, Ira Byock, MD, who shares how fatherhood shaped how he views the importance of having the conversation.

"...as a doctor who is also a father, I am continually reminded that decisions about treatments are never just medical; they are always intensely personal."

Dear Loved Ones: Trim My Chin and Upper Lip Hairs!
Read this letter by a woman who makes it crystal clear how she wants to live at the end of her life. To her family she leaves behind guidance around how she would want to live at the end of her life.

Inspired?   Want to have your letter to your loved one featured on our blog? We’ll be collecting as many letters as we can and hope to share different examples with you as we receive them. Send your letter to conversationproject@ihi.org .

Conversation Champion Highlight: SAGE Eldercare
Based in New Jersey, SAGE Eldercare is a nonprofit organization committed to being the leading provider of program and services to meet the changing needs of older adults, their families and caregivers. They have started a community initiative to encourage individuals to engage in conversations about their end-of-life care and decision making. They plan to use TCP's Conversation Starter Kits to lead a train the trainer program. Their program launches in September. Click here to learn more about SAGE Eldercare .

Click here  to put your organization on The Conversation Project's Conversation Champion Map and possibly be featured in our next newsletter!

News Roundup: What We're Reading
DOWNLOAD OUR FREE KITS!
The Conversation Starter Kit is a useful tool to help you have the conversation with a family member, friend, or other loved one about your – or their – wishes regarding end-of-life care. It is available in several languages.  All of the Starter Kits are available to download and print for free.

To purchase printed copies of the Starter Kits, print in bulk or add your logo and contact information,  visit our Mimeo Marketplace

If you know someone who would benefit from receiving this newsletter, have them register here .