In the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to talk with, and to learn a great deal from Michele Clayborne,  the Administrator at Overlook Hospice & Palliative Care, Honoring Choices’ newest Community Partner. Interestingly these conversations have created for me one of those serendipitous times, when two conversations, with two people who operate in…

“How do we help adults start planning discussions about death and dying issues, and what tools do we need to do it? That was common question posed by clergy and lay people who came together from Episcopal, United Church of Christ, Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, United Methodist Church, Unitarian Universalist, Presbyterian, Quakers faiths and more,…

Describing conversations between family members regarding end of life planning during times of critical illness, Dr. Hammes, Director of Respecting Choices says it this way: “The ultimate content of this conversation, I think, isn’t about death.” “Instead,” says Bud Hammes, Ph.D., a medical ethicist at Gundersen Health System, “I think the ultimate topic that’s being…

Last week, Regis College, together with The Parmenter Foundation, Parmenter Home Care and Hospice, and Honoring Choices Massachusetts, sponsored a very well attended public forum, titled : Envisioning And Achieving A Brighter Future. Held at Regis’s Casey Theatre, Dr. Ira Byock, one of the nation’s foremost leaders in palliative and hospice care, and a long…

The Massachusetts Council of Churches (MCOC) and Honoring Choices Massachusetts are working together to offer a first-of-its kind event for Massachusetts clergy, chaplains, and lay leaders: Caring for Each Other in Life and in Death: The Role of Congregations in Health Care and End-of-life Planning Tuesday May 6, 2014, 10 am to 2 pm; Christ…

This Sunday, April 27th,  the North Shore Medical Center in Salem is hosting an interfaith event titled, It’s Your Choice: Life-Affirming Conversations about Death, Spiritual Perspectives on Advance Care Planning. Spiritual leaders from the Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslin, Buddhist, and Humanist traditions will present their views on key end of life issues followed by an interfaith…

“It’s like a friendly train depot. People stop here on their way in life and take time to understand their journey, to talk about why they are here and how to find the right way home.” says Wayne Saltsman, MD,  Medical Director of Woburn Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, our newest Community Partner. Adults arrive at…

What would you do if a serious medical emergency arose for your adult child, your closest friend or an elderly neighbor? Do you know what kind of care they would want, and who they appointed to make medical decisions for them? Even in the most supportive environments, it can be difficult for family, friends, and…

Today is National Health Care Decisions Day Honoring Choices Community Partners are diligently working in communities across the Commonwealth to help adults and families make every day health care decisions day. They provide hands-on help that empowers adults to exercise their right to manage their health care decisions, any and every day. They are working…

Many years of caring for people with advanced illness has taught Diane Stringer, President and CEO of Care Dimensions in Danvers, something that patients and families often cannot imagine; namely that hospice care “can offer a hopeful and peaceful time of life.”  Honoring Choices Massachusetts’ newest Community Partner, Care Dimensions was established in 1978 as…