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Embracing Change: End Game Viewing hosted by Dr. Steven Pantilat
Story and photos by Richard Bermack
Making choices concerning how and when one or a loved one dies is not easy. How do you know their wishes? When does one cross the line between prolonging life and maintaining dignity? These are some of the issues addressed in End Game, a documentary directed by the Academy Award winning producers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. The film features the doctors and nurses of UCSF Medical Center and the Zen Hospice Project. Dr. Steven Pantilat, Director of the UCSF Palliative Care Leadership Center, and one of the physicians featured in the film, hosted the screening at Ashby Village as part of the Member Support Services’ Embracing Change series on September 14. Hilda Hernández-Gravelle, the Member Support Services Manager, introduced Dr. Pantilat, who is also the author of Life After the Diagnosis: Expert Advice on Living Well with Serious Illness for Patients and Caregivers, a text he focused on in his Embracing Change presentation on palliative care in March of this year.
The viewing of End Game was followed by a rich discussion of hospice and palliative care. One of the takeaways is that although having an Advanced Care Directive and a DNR are important first steps, family members need to have a clear understanding of what the patient wants. What is their bottom line for quality of life, and at what point does one say no to continued treatment? One helpful suggestion that came out of the discussion is to ask, “What are the best case and worst case scenarios for any proposed medical procedure, versus doing nothing at all?”
Watch the 40-minute documentary End Game on Netflix.
Member Support Team members with Dr. Steven Pantilat
Member Support Manager, Hilda Hernández-Gravelle
Dr. Pantilat answers questions from the audience after the screening