Hope for the Best Plan for the Rest The 7 Keys - A Lunch and Learn Event

I am thrilled to be in conversation with fabulous colleagues from McMaster University, Dr. Hsien Seow & Sammy Winemaker of The Waiting Room Revolution.

Dr.'s Seow and Winemaker are extraordinary advocates and brilliant communicators focused on supporting individuals, families and communities navigating serious illnesses and facilitating empowered experiences within the healthcare system.

"Hsien and Sammy have spent their careers helping those who are facing serious illness. For years, they often heard patients and families say they felt unprepared and overwhelmed. Despite years of education, research, and advocacy, they continued to hear patients and families say 'Why didn’t anyone tell me that sooner…'

They started the Waiting Room Revolution movement because they wanted to improve the patient and family illness experience. They want to build a community to share deeply human stories about caring for others. Through interviews with experts, clinicians, patients and caregivers, they are harnessing the advice of those with lived experience to better prepare those who are just starting their caring journey." Source: The Waiting Room Revolution

Join us for Hope for the Best Plan for the Rest The 7 Keys - A Lunch and Learn Event with the Canadian Alliance for Children’s Grief via ZOOM

Guest Speakers:
Drs. Winemaker and Seow are authors of the new book ‘Hope for the Best, Plan for the Rest’ and co-hosts of the podcast ‘The Waiting Room Revolution’. C. Elizabeth Dougherty is a Psychosocial Clinician and Educator specializing in supporting families of all ages facing serious illness, uncertainty and grief.

Together, they will discuss how the 7 keys can be used in the context of children's grief right from the time of diagnosis, so families can be more proactive and less-crisis driven and have a better illness journey.
Please register via this link.

Source: The Waiting Room Revolution

FREE Death Café at McMaster University: August 9th (6-8pm)

I am honoured to facilitate a FREE Death Café on Wednesday August 9th (6-8pm) at the David Braley Health Sciences Centre, McMaster University on behalf of The 100% Certainty Project. Death: Something to Talk About.

Registration is required for this FREE Death Café via Eventbrite at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/death-cafe-tickets-668976405437

Please note: Death Café is an international movement where people, often strangers, gather to eat, drink tea and discuss death. The objective is 'to increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives’.

At Death Café, you can expect a group directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives or themes. It is a discussion group. Please note that Death Café is NOT a grief support group, nor is this a grief counselling session.

Death Café is a respectful, public event where people of all communities and belief systems are welcome to have discussions about death. Interesting conversation is guaranteed! For more information, please visit Death Café https://deathcafe.com/

The Last Doctor: Free Public Event - December 8th

I am sharing this free Author Event as a part of the 100% Certainty Project, for The Last Doctor at the Hamilton Public Library on Thursday December 8th.

I am honoured to be moderating this discussion with the co-authors of The Last Doctor, Dr. Jean Marmoreo and Johanna Schneller, as we discuss their new book. At a time when end-of-life care and its quality are more in the public eye than ever before, The Last Doctor provides an accessible personal, deeply humane, and authoritative guide through this difficult subject.

Jean is a doctor, writer, advocate, athlete, and adventurer. She is a specialist in end-of-life medicine and was one of the first doctors in Canada to provide MAiD—Medical Assistance in Dying— when it became legal in 2016. Jean was a regular columnist for The Globe and Mail and The National Post.

Johanna is one of North America’s leading freelance journalists, specializing in entertainment features. Her cover stories have appeared in Vanity Fair, InStyle, Premiere, More, and Ladies Home Journal. Johanna co-wrote the bestselling book Uncontrollable with Mark Towhey and Woman Enough with Kristen Worley

Join us for a chat with the co-authors of The Last Doctor: Lessons in Living from the Front Lines of Medical Assistance in Dying. For information, please visit: https://events.hpl.ca/event/7549953  

Free Family Event Celebrating Life, Death and Meaningful Connections

Grief and Loss impacts Everyone.

Am honoured to co-host and co-facilitate this free public event. In support of Children's Grief Awareness Day and National Bereavement Day, "The 100% Certainty Project – Death: Something to Talk About" is hosting a FREE public event for parents and children at the Hamilton Public Library. Please join us for:

- a reading of the children’s book The Funeral by Matt James, award-winning Author

- a creative family activity exploring grief, loss and meaningful connections

- grief and bereavement resources from Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association & Canadian Virtual Hospice

CBC Books on The Funeral: "This sensitive and life-affirming story will lead young readers to ask their own questions about life, death and how we remember those who have gone before us"

Please note, this is not a counselling session or grief support group.

While this is a free event, registration is REQUIRED via:  https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/free-public-event-for-parents-and-children-on-grief-and-bereavement-tickets-50531981517

Extremis Documentary and Discussion

Excited to co-host our next free public event with the Department of Family Medicine, Division of Palliative Care at McMaster University. This evening is part of our compassionate community initiative, “The 100% Certainty Project. Death: Something to Talk About". We will: feature the book “Extreme Measures" by Dr. Jessica Nutik Zitter; view the remarkable Oscar-nominated documentary “Extremis” from Shoshana Ungerleider, MD; provide Advance Care Planning resources from the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association; and close the evening with a panel discussion comprised of clinicians and educators. This free public event in support of National Advance Care Planning Day. To register, please visit: Eventbrite