An intimate story about the American struggle with communication and preparation at the end-of-life

By Burning Hay Wagon Productions

Consider the Conversation is a remarkable, thought-provoking film that looks at many of the issues that we will all face at the end-of-life.  It opens the floodgates of thought and conversation on this most difficult and often taboo subject.  It helps to illustrate many areas of improvement in our health care system.  I would encourage everyone to watch this important film including physicians, healthcare workers, patients and families.  This film will help us to be better physicians, better nurses, better patients and better people.  

- James Roberts, M.D., Medical Director, Mayo Clinic Health System-Home Health & Hospice

Background

Motivated by their personal experiences with loss, Mike Bernhagen, Director of Community Engagement & Care Partner Relations at Rainbow Hospice Care of Jefferson, WI, and Terry Kaldhusdal, an Oconomowoc, WI teacher and filmmaker, decided to join forces in early 2009 to begin a creative journey that has resulted in a film entitled Consider the Conversation.  This project sheds light on the 21st century American struggle with communication and preparation at life's end.  Throughout the film, there are intimate accounts of the emotional, spiritual, physical and social burdens associated with the historical shift that has occurred with dying.  Forty years ago, most people experienced a quick death, but today we are more likely to suffer a slow, incremental dying process.

Consider the Conversation examines multiple perspectives on end-of-life care and includes information and experiences gathered from interviews with patients, family members, doctors, nurses, clergy, social workers, and national experts from around the country.  While in production, Mike and Terry donated more than 3,500 hours to the effort which included shooting 70 hours of film and conducting in-depth interviews with 40+ individuals from California, Illinois, Indiana, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and Wisconsin.  The film begins with "person on the street" interviews conducted in New York City.

Among the national experts interviewed were:

• Ira Byock, M.D., Director of Palliative Medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
• Elliott Fisher, M.D., head of the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care
• Stephen Kiernan, author of Last Rights: Rescuing the End-of-Life from the Medical System
• Bernard "Bud" Hammes, Ph.D., Clinical Ethicist, Gundersen Lutheran Health System
• Susan Dolan, R.N., J.D. and Audrey Vizzard, R.N., Ed.D.,  co-authors of The End-of-Life Advisor: Personal, Legal, and Medical Considerations for a Peaceful, Dignified Death
• Doug C. Smith, author of Caregiving: Hospice-Proven Techniques for Healing Body and Soul
• James Cleary, M.D., Director of Palliative Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and past President of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
• Anne Moore, author of Harry and Louise Must Die: We Could Save Billions in Healthcare if We Could Accept Death and Say Goodbye Outside the Hospital
• Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, authors of Heidegger and a Hippo Walk Through Those Pearly Gates
• Loretta S. Downs, President, Chicago End-of-Life Care Coalition, and Founder, Chrysalis End-of-Life Inspirations

Goals

The bottom line is that Consider the Conversation does not seek to hand down answers.  Rather, it provides something far more important - the questions all of us need to contemplate.  That being said, the producers have three goals for this film: 1) to change the current American attitude from one that predominantly views end-of-life as a failed medical event to one that sees it as a normal process rich in opportunity for human development, 2) to inspire dialogue between patient and doctor, husband and wife, parent and child, minister and parishioner, and 3) to encourage medical professionals, healthcare organizations and clergy to take the lead in counseling others.

Distribution

Eighteen months in the making and entirely funded by private donations, Consider the Conversation premiered in front of a sold-out theatrical audience on February 5, 2011 at the Oconomowoc Arts Center.  On March 1, 2011, the film was released on DVD via Amazon.com for personal and educational use. And, on June 18, 2011, it was distributed to PBS stations nationwide via the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA).  Without question, the latter represents a unique opportunity for healthcare organizations to partner with their local PBS station in an educational effort not seen since Bill Moyers' groundbreaking 2000 documentary On Our Own Terms.  If you'd like to see Consider the Conversation broadcast in your city, please call or e-mail your local PBS affiliate today!

PBS stations interested in obtaining the film for broadcast should contact NETA by clicking here.  To view the first five minutes of the film on NETA's YouTube channel, please click on the icon below:

Please take some time to explore this website.  Read about Mike’s personal calling to the project and Terry's new perspective from tragic news; view the trailers displayed on this home page; click on the pictures above to hear from five people featured in the film; and consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Rainbow Hospice Foundation that will help defer some of the costs associated with producing and distributing this documentary.  By working together, all of us can make a big difference.