Ep. 391 Dying in America: A Journalist’s Exploration with Ann Neumann
Ep. 391 Dying in America: A Journalist’s Exploration with Ann Neumannkwyattmd1:08:09
Learn about this journalist’s research into “the good death” and what she learned through seven years of study and Travel across the U.S.
My guest Ann Neumann is a journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Harper’s magazine, The Baffler, Guernica magazine, and elsewhere. After caring for her father at his end of life she became a Hospice volunteer and began to research the meaning of a “good death” in this country, which led to her book The Good Death: An Exploration of Dying in America. She shares some of the things she learned about death as she traveled the country and listened to opinions, beliefs, and stories about what constitutes a good death. Learn more at her website:
How Ann’s experience caring for her father at the end of his life inspired her research for the book
How Ann and her Family felt unprepared for the actual dying process even though they were receiving care from hospice
How the “gentle” marketing of hospice and death care services can obscure the reality of the challenges of dying
The tragedy of “false hope” being offered to patients rather than factual information
Where Ann found inspiration for each of the topics she covered in the book (e.g. medical aid in dying, pro-life movement, religious influence on dying, disability issues, prison hospice)
Why “dignity” can mean something different to people who live with disabilities
The extensive work needed to overcome racial disparities in end-of-life care and restore trust
Links mentioned in this episode:
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Check out the Series I’ve recorded in the past here
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Dr. Karen Wyatt is the bestselling author of the book 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying, which contains stories of patients she cared for as a hospice doctor and the spiritual lessons she learned from them at the end of their lives. Her other books include The Journey from Ego to Soul, Stories from the Dark Night, and The Tao of Death. Dr. Wyatt also hosts End-of-Life University Podcast, which features conversations with experts who work in all aspects of end-of-life care. She is widely regarded as a thought-leader in the effort to transform the way we care for our dying in the U.S. In addition, she is valued for her application of spiritual principles to illness and healthcare and teaches that in order to live life fully we must each overcome our fear of death and embrace the difficulties that life brings us.
