question archive Read the following article and answer the following questions: 1) Give a brief and clear synopsis of the presentation
Read the following article and answer the following questions: 1) Give a brief and clear synopsis of the presentation
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Read the following article and answer the following questions:
1) Give a brief and clear synopsis of the presentation. This must include the MAJOR point of the talk, as well as the minor points - this is not as simple as it sounds! Be mindful of your work.
2) The best synopsis sections do more than describe the TedTalk (e.g. this happened and then this and then this). They show the "big picture" of the talk. (The speakers often indicate this in their wrap-up of their talk!), If you are stuck here - think of the "reporter questions" - who?; what?; where?; when?; why?; and, how?
3) What is the take home message of this talk for you personally?
4) What is most meaningful / interesting for you in this talk?
5. Again, be specific. This is not the place to introduce new material from the talk or the text. Talk about YOUR responses and feelings.
6. A quick sentence or two is not sufficient.
ARTICLE:
What would be a good end of life? And I'm talking about the very end. I'm talking about dying.
We all think a lot about how to live well. I'd like to talk about increasing our chances of dying well. I'm not a geriatrician. I design reading programs for preschoolers. What I know about this topic comes from a qualitative study with a sample size of two. In the last few years, I helped two friends have the end of life they wanted. Jim and Shirley Modini spent their 68 years of marriage living off the grid on their 1,700-acre ranch in the mountains of Sonoma County. They kept just enough livestock to make ends meet so that the majority of their ranch would remain a refuge for the bears and lions and so many other things that lived there. This was their dream.
I met Jim and Shirley in their 80s. They were both only children who chose not to have kids. As we became friends, I became their trustee and their medical advocate, but more importantly, I became the person who managed their end-of-life experiences. And we learned a few things about how to have a good end.
In their final years, Jim and Shirley faced cancers, fractures, infections, neurological illness. It's true. At the end, our bodily functions and independence are declining to zero. What we found is that, with a plan and the right people, quality of life can remain high. The beginning of the end is triggered by a mortality awareness event, and during this time, Jim and Shirley chose ACR nature preserves to take their ranch over when they were gone. This gave them the peace of mind to move forward. It might be a diagnosis. It might be your intuition. But one day, you're going to say, "This thing is going to get me." Jim and Shirley spent this time letting friends know that their end was near and that they were okay with that.
Dying from cancer and dying from neurological illness are different. In both cases, last days are about quiet reassurance. Jim died first. He was conscious until the very end, but on his last day he couldn't talk. Through his eyes, we knew when he needed to hear again, "It is all set, Jim. We're going to take care of Shirley right here at the ranch, and ACR's going to take care of your wildlife forever."
From this experience I'm going to share five practices. I've put worksheets online, so if you'd like, you can plan your own end.
It starts with a plan. Most people say, "I'd like to die at home." Eighty percent of Americans die in a hospital or a nursing home. Saying we'd like to die at home is not a plan. A lot of people say, "If I get like that, just shoot me." This is not a plan either; this is illegal. (Laughter) A plan involves answering straightforward questions about the end you want. Where do you want to be when you're no longer independent? What do you want in terms of medical intervention? And who's going to make sure your plan is followed?
You will need advocates. Having more than one increases your chance of getting the end you want. Don't assume the natural choice is your spouse or child. You want someone who has the time and proximity to do job well, and you want someone who can work with people under the pressure of an ever-changing situation.
Hospital readiness is critical. You are likely to be headed to the emergency room, and you want to get this right. Prepare one-page summary of your medical history, medications and physician information. Put this in a really bright envelope with copies of your insurance cards, your power of attorney, and your do-not-resuscitate order. Have advocates keep a set in their car. Tape a set to your refrigerator. When you show up in the E.R. with this packet, your admission is streamlined in a material way.
You're going to need caregivers. You'll need to assess your personality and financial situation to determine whether an elder care community or staying at home is your best choice. In either case, do not settle. We went through a number of not-quite-right caregivers before we found the perfect team led by Marsha, who won't let you win at bingo just because you're dying but will go out and take videos of your ranch for you when you can't get out there, and Caitlin, who won't let you skip your morning exercises but knows when you need to hear that your wife is in good hands.
Finally, last words. What do you want to hear at the very end, and from whom would you like to hear it? In my experience, you'll want to hear that whatever you're worried about is going to be fine. When you believe it's okay to let go, you will.
So, this is a topic that normally inspires fear and denial. What I've learned is if we put some time into planning our end of life, we have the best chance of maintaining our quality of life. Here are Jim and Shirley just after deciding who would take care of their ranch. Here's Jim just a few weeks before he died, celebrating a birthday he didn't expect to see. And here's Shirley just a few days before she died being read an article in that day's paper about the significance of the wildlife refuge at the Modini ranch.
Jim and Shirley had a good end of life, and by sharing their story with you, I hope to increase our chances of doing the same.
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The speaker in this article talks about the most innate fear of death through his experience with an elderly couple whom he provided help and care throughout the last days of life. He does not talks about only the experience of death through the explanation of fear but mainly focuses on how to create a meaningful ending to this life which we have lived through the pleasures of the summer and the pain of losing loved ones like days of winter. Life is just like seasons and it is our responsibility to decide how we would like to go through the ending process in our elderly days of weathering seasons. The focus is on choosing the right person next to you, letting go of burdens with assurance, and listening to or watching to the most beautiful or significant thing by your side, while we breathe the last air for this lifetime. It is a remarkably touching story, undoubtedly leaving a mark on the reader.
Step-by-step explanation
1) The major point in the talk is about how we should focus on creating a plan or a schedule for how would we want to spend the last days of our lives. Planning does not mean the wishful thoughts or a dream to die in a specific way but planning your times wisely through the weathering days of life regarding letting go of responsibilities and by placing them on good and reliable hands who would take care of our material liabilities, spending the last days peaceful with people whom you feel the closest to and what specifically you want to hear while to end your breath. All these planning of course cannot occur alone without any contribution from empathetic and skillful health care practitioner but it is also our responsibility to keep our medical and health insurance records organized. This will further help the officials to help you get the best medical facility and required help during critical times.
2) The big picture of the talk is that being humans, we often tend to stay away from something which serves us fear and anxiety and focus more on pleasurable days of lives. While fear of death is one of the most crucial things which explains our denial or inability to face the truth about mortality. But it is very important to plan out and focus on the most fragile and worst days of our lives as actively as we plan a vacation and prepare ourselves for it. Maintaining the quality of life even during the last days of life surely possible when individuals keep their fears away by becoming more accepting about mortality and keeping our priorities clear during the last days of our life; this would further help us to create a peaceful scenario to let go of this responsibility with assurance and reliability. During these crucial times, one of the most triggering and tension-ridden factors is 'who to give the responsibility of our house and belongings' especially for individuals who didn't have children or their children are not available during the time of death. Hence, the speaker expresses deep concern for individuals to focus on planning to get the best health care-givers, getting the best health insurance policy dealers, and getting someone most closely by your side to help ease the pain of letting go and death.
3) The most essential message to take home is that denial and fear of death won't let us understand the value of life, which is felt only during the crucial days of grey and weathering. Quality of life can be maintained only when we plan out wisely and organize our crucial times with our close ones and choose the best health care providers with reliability and assurance.
4) I, myself as a common individual, often stay in denial about death and have never thought about such crucial investments in life which can lend me some peace during the days of illness in old age. This article was very beneficial for me as it helped to at least ponder about this serious matter for once during my days of youth. And the second most beautiful thing which left a mark on my mind is that when the speaker told Jim that he doesn't have to worry about Shirley and that they would all take care of his wife and he can leave at peace. Such warm and loving assurance about care and love is hardly expressed in books about health care advocates with real-life examples. What I mean is that people usually tend to trust such advocates less and think that it is a money-wasting medium but the way the speaker explained the story of Jim and Shirley was remarkably beautiful.
5. My feelings and emotions became very fragile as I read through the story about the last days of Jim and Shirley. Such beautiful instances should be shared more publicly which would allow common individuals to trust health care advocates and plan their last days very well to maintain the best quality of life both mentally and physically.
6. Understanding the speaker's stance and reading the story of Jim and Shirley helped me to understand how the ending of life is much more crucial than the in-between hurdles which we often tend to crib about throughout life and we often ignore to plan our days of elderly wisely with appropriate health insurance and care facilities with assistance from reliable professionals. Life is about understanding the idea of 'letting go', which might be helpful for us during the early days because during the early days' life is not about taking and creating responsibility but it is about creating a life full of rest, peace, tranquility, and good health. This is possible only when we let go of our responsibilities by passing it on to someone reliable in life.
