When Joan Gibson’s daughter was in kindergarten, she told her teacher, “My mother does death and dying. At the time she was teaching and consulting on bioethics and help draft New Mexico’s first Right to Die law in 1977.
Gibson went on to promote advance directives and in the late 1980s created the Values History Form, a widely available document that invites people to talk about their values and what’s important to them. The information serves as a basis for any eventual medical decision-making.
At the University of New Mexico, she founded the Health Sciences Ethics Program and taught medical ethics to medical, nursing and pharmacy students. For 20 years, she chaired the Hospital Ethics Committee at St. Joseph Hospital (now Lovelace).
She and mediator Mark Bennett developed a conflict resolution process to help people dealing with difficult medical ethics issues. They also designed a values-based decision making process for a large health care system, since used by thousands of people.
Joan Gibson, Ph.D., joins host Gail Rubin on A Good Goodbye Radio on Wednesday, May 14 at 6:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. PT on TogiNet Talk Radio to discuss medical decision making and her book Pause: How to Turn Difficult Choices into Strong Decisions.
Topics to be covered include:
- How to talk about what matters, with an eye toward preparing for future medical decision-making
- The legal and medical policies that support patient choice, with New Mexico as an example
- Aid in Dying (formerly Physician Assisted Suicide) and its implications for the future
- How to talk with young people about their wishes, should something catastrophic happen to them
- Reframing our thoughts about the older generation as a resource, not a burden
Download the podcast!
A Good Goodbye is an entertaining and educational weekly 60-minute online radio show on “everything you need to know before you go.” The program airs live on Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. CT / 4:00 p.m. MT / 3:00 p.m. PT on TogiNet Talk Radio.
Each show becomes available as a podcast shortly after each live program. All past program podcasts on A Good Goodbye radio can be downloaded for free from iTunes,TogiNet Talk Radio or AGoodGoodbye.com.
A Good Goodbye covers a wide range of critical information most people don’t consider until there’s a death in the family. Host Gail Rubin, CT, brings a light touch to a serious subject and presents expert interviews on funeral planning issues with practical insights into the party no one wants to plan.
By planning ahead and having a conversation, families can reduce stress at a time of grief, minimize family conflict, save money and create a meaningful, memorable “good goodbye.”
Sign up for a free planning form and get more information at www.AGoodGoodbye.com.
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ABOUT GAIL RUBIN
Gail Rubin, CT, The Doyenne of Death®
Gail Rubin, CT, The Doyenne of Death®, is author of the award-winning book, A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die. Host of A Good Goodbye television series and Internet radio show, she is a Certified Thanatologist (that’s a death educator) and a popular speaker who uses humor and films to get the funeral planning conversation started. She’s also a Certified Funeral Celebrant, funeral planning consultant, and insurance agent.
Rubin is a member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, and the National Speakers Association New Mexico Chapter. She is Vice President of the Jewish-Christian Dialogue of New Mexico, helping to start conversations across religions. Her website is www.AGoodGoodbye.com.