“Medical Aid in Dying; The story of one man’s choice” Jan 28 at UVM’s Medical Education Pavilion12/27/2019 Learn about Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) at a panel discussion at 5 PM on Tuesday, January 28 at the University of Vermont’s Medical Education Pavilion, Larner Classroom, Room 100. 
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Join us in Castleton, Vermont on December 3
We are pleased to help publicize this upcoming event hosted by The Northeast Kingdom Palliative Care Initiative.
 Patient Choices Vermont (PCV) will be among the exhibitors at Age Well's Senior Day on Tuesday, August 27.
We encourage you to visit with us on this special day of the annual Champlain Valley Fair, an event which typically welcomes more than 300 Vermont seniors to enjoy a luncheon (now sold out), live music, and all-day access to the fairgrounds. Adults age 50 or older will save $3 off their admission ticket with I.D. at the gate – Valid only on Senior Day. Today we are recognizing National Healthcare Decisions Day, intended to empower and inspire people to prepare or review their advance directives. An advance directive, sometimes called a living will, is a legal document that outlines your health care preferences in the event that you become unable to make or communicate those choices. As part of the document, you choose a person, your “health care agent,” who will advocate for you during times when you so not have decision-making capacity.
We frequently receive questions about advance care planning and Act 39 (Medical Aid in Dying) in the context of dementia or severe cognitive decline. People ask us whether they can direct the use of medical aid in dying in advance, specifically in the case of dementia. The short answer is no. However there are steps you can take to help avoid prolonged life with severe dementia. The Gerontology Symposium is a conference designed to enable participants to gain knowledge pertaining to a key areas of caregiving for older adults: End of Life Care and Transitions. The symposium also seeks to strengthen the connections between family caregivers and professionals. This year, topics will include:
 The idea of bringing people together to talk about death was originated by Swiss sociologist and anthropologist Bernard Crettaz who organized the first Café Mortel in 2004. The idea spawned an international Death Cafe movement with more than 6,000 hosted so far by various organizations around the world.
Here in Vermont, the movement to socially de-stigmatize talk about death and dying is well underway, with many events over the past few years. In August 2018, Alexandria Kerrigan, a recent graduate of the University of Vermont's End-of-Life Doula Program, launched the first Winooski Vermont Death Café and has hosted six monthly events since, renaming the concept as Death Talks last December. Death Talks provide a safe place for open dialogue and the philosophical exploration of themes such as mortality, the afterlife, spirituality, cultural practices, history, individual experience, and more. Death Talks is not a personal support group nor a counseling session. On Wednesday, January 23 from 6-8 pm, Betsy Walkerman and Francesca Arnoldy of Patient Choices VT will present a session regarding Vermont's Medical Aid in Dying Law (Act 39).
Alexandria Kerrigan holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education and is pursuing a masters in social work. She has been interested and comfortable with the topic of death since childhood and has extensive personal experience with grief and loss. The Wishbone Collective hosts and sponsors monthly Death Talks in alignment with their mission to create a unique community space for all. RSVPs are not necessary but you can do so while sharing the event with friends at the Facebook event Page: Death Talks featuring Patient Choices Vermont: Act 39 Seminar. Thanks for considering attending this community outreach event, A Finished Heart by Eliot Cherry PCV sponsored the presentation of an intimate one-act theater production as part of the recognition of the five-year anniversary of Vermont’s End of Life Choice Law (Act 39). We brought author, composer, and actor, Eliott Cherry here from Oregon to present his deeply personal story of love, life, and dying. The three, hour-long performance, staged from May 17-19, 2018 brought audience members in touch with the universal experience of dying, amid humor and loving conversations at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Norwich, at the Shelburne Town Hall, and at Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph. Eliott's performances prompted conversations about care giving, personal choices, and fundamental human connections. Each performance was followed by a discussion session, and PCV provided information about Vermont’s End of Life Choice Law (Act 39). Peggy and Samantha Stevens In recognition of Legislators and Act 39 Supporters PCV hosted a reception at the Statehouse in Montpelier on May 16, the 5th Anniversary of the enactment of Vermont's End of Life Choice Law.
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