This fall's “Let's Talk” community discussion series has generated an unusual amount of excitement. The team of Pat Murphy, R.N., Ph.D., and David Price, Ph.D., inaugurated the series by leading a discussion based on the recent Bill Moyers PBS special, “On Our Own Terms.” The widely publicized mini-series, four 90-minute programs on consecutive nights, explored in depth the real problems real people face at the end of life. It attempted to answer the question of how we keep control over this very private process. By exploring in such intimate detail the final days of real people, it prompted all viewers to re-examine their own beliefs.

Drs. Murphy's and Price's gentle repartee encouraged the group's participation, which when started was difficult to stop. The discussion veered toward an examination of our system, its weaknesses, and then eventually toward a plan by which individuals may make a difference.

Inaccessibility to pain management, physicians' seeming indifference to or ignorance of pain control, the plight of the terminally ill without a spokesperson, maintaining the body without addressing the needs of the soul, pending legislation which would further restrict physicians' pain-prescribing practices – all were recurrent themes.

One of the evening's interactive tasks was to share with another a story about a significant death in our lives. Almost universally, the overwhelming emotion was one of incompletion, a failure to communicate our love and support.

Pat Murphy is an advance practice nurse at the University Hospital, Newark, NJ. David Price is a clinical ethicist for the New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ.

PART TWO

The second evening of the series, on October 17th, features Kenneth P. Scileppi, MD, who will lead a discussion on caring for the aging at home. Dr. Scileppi, who is a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at Cornell University Medical College, has authored “Caring for the Parent Who Cared for You: What to Do When an Aging Parent Needs You.” His particular interest is the special difficulties involved in the long-term care of Alzheimer's patients.

PART THREE

Continuing the theme of end-of-life care, the final evening of the fall series, on Tuesday, November 28th, will be entitled, “Personal Values Regarding Hospice and Palliative Care.” Bruce Jennings, senior research scholar at The Hastings Center, will be the featured speaker. A “Viewpoint” article by Mr. Jennings on hospice and palliative care initiatives appears on page 4 of this issue.