Documentary, discussions explore end-of-life issues
The Jewish Home Family and Temple Emanu-El of Closter host a free screening and discussion of the PBS Frontline documentary “Being Mortal,” based on the best-selling book by Dr. Atul Gawande. The film explores the hopes of patients and families as they face terminal illness, and on their relationships with the doctors, nurses, and family members who care for them.
The screening will be on May 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the shul, 180 Piermont Road in Closter. A panel discussion with community experts, moderated by Carol Silver Elliott, president and CEO of the Jewish Home Family, will follow. Panelists include Dr. Harvey Gross, the medical director of the Jewish Home at Rockleigh; Dr. Steven Landers, president and CEO of the Visiting Nurse Association Health Group; Linda Farber Post, director of bioethics at Hackensack University Medical Center, and Rabbi Alex Freedman, Temple Emanu-El’s assistant rabbi.
“The film investigates the practice of caring for the dying, and shows how doctors — myself included are often remarkably untrained, ill-suited, and uncomfortable talking about chronic illness and death with their patients,” Dr. Gawande said.
For information, email corrubia@templeemanu-el.com or go to the Jewish Home Family’s Facebook page: Facebook.com/JewishHomeFamily
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