Reformed Church Home (RCH), Old Bridge, and St. Bartholomew’s Church, East Brunswick, have partnered to offer a free screening of the Emmy-nominated documentary “Being Mortal” 6-8 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Reformed Church Home Old Bridge campus, 1990 Route 18 North.
A light supper will be available at 5:30 p.m. After the screening, medical professionals will lead a panel discussion on how to take concrete steps to identify and communicate wishes about end-of-life goals and preferences. Audience members will have the opportunity to participate in the discussion.
“Being Mortal” investigates the practice of caring for the seriously ill and challenges viewers to re-examine their thinking about aging and mortality. The film explores the relationships between patients and their doctors and follows a surgeon, Dr. Atul Gawande of Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, as he shares stories from the people and families he encounters. He also shares his own family’s personal journey after his father was diagnosed with cancer.
The documentary, which first aired nationally on the PBS program “Frontline” in February 2015, sheds light on how a medical system focused on a cure often leaves out the sensitive conversations that need to occur so that a patient’s true wishes can be known and honored at the end of life.
The free screening is made possible by a grant from The John and Wauna Harman Foundation in partnership with the Hospice Foundation of America. Registration is required. Space is limited.
For more information or to register, call Andrea Walls at 732-607-9230 or email awalls@rchnj.org.
