This Friday, the largest Death Cafe in the world to date will take place in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Four hundred people have registered to attend the Dean’s Health Symposium held by New Mexico State University’s College of Health and Social Services.
The free one-day seminar, “A Beautiful Death: What will you choose?” will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at the Las Cruces Convention Center, 680 E. University Ave. The event, which will directly confront the fear and stigma surrounding end-of-life discussions, recently reached its capacity of 400 attendees expected.
I’ll be facilitating the Death Cafe at lunch, with people at round tables of ten sharing their thoughts on mortality issues. In the afternoon, I’m presenting the film clip-illustrated presentation, “Doctor, How Long Do I Have?” on how to improve doctor/patient/family conversations around serious diagnoses. Other seminar workshops will focus on legal considerations, advance-care planning, New Mexico regulations affecting care, pharmacological issues at the end of life and writing an obituary.