Using Theater to Encourage Advance Care Planning (Self-Study)

Course overview

Gil Everette has had a heart attack and is now in congestive heart failure. On the eve of his 68th birthday, Gil and his adult children, with a medical social worker on hand, explore Gil's wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment options. HFA's recorded Zoom production of Dusk by Bryan Harnetiaux is a play written specifically to explore the challenges and opportunities for advance care planning and family dynamics at the end of life. After the performance, playwright Bryan Harnetiaux, researcher/physician LJ Van Scoy, and hospice executive director Carlos Graveran explore issues raised in the play, including advance care planning (ACP) and management of complex family dynamics, and also discuss creative ways to encourage ACP conversations in communities.