End-of-Life Matters seminar returns by demand
By Meredith Morris Contributor February 22, 2012 11:44AM
Co-coordinators Carol Kinsey and Soon Har Tan will lead the seminar on End-of-Life Matters at Unity Temple on Feb. 25.
The Seminar on End-of-Life Matters will feature a range of speakers with different perspectives on legal, emotional and other aspects of death and dying. Following a similar seminar in 2010, participants said they gained the tools they needed to engage in conversation about death and dying with their loved ones.
“Our last event really touched people,” said co-coordinator Carol Kinsey. “I was surprised that people were willing to share their experiences and stories about grief and other emotions so easily.”
2012 seminar speakers will include:
Charlie Williams, Dreschler-Brown-Williams Funeral Home in Oak Park, discussing how people are cared for after death, and the choices and costs involved in funeral planning.
Angelica Kuehn, estate planning lawyer and specialist on aging issues, discussing legal aspects of death and dying, including forms, powers of attorney, Medicare benefits and the difference between trusts and wills.
Emily Gage, minister of Faith Development at Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation, discussing how to plan a memorable memorial service, down to the music.
Karen Mooney, chaplain, Rainbow Hospice International, presenting the grieving process, her own story of widowhood, and how grief can inform and transform our lives.
Hospice team members from Northwestern Memorial Hospital, discussing what’s involved in the full realm of hospice care. Panelists include nurse Carol Kinsey, chaplain and assistant pastor of Resurrection Church of Chicago Gabriel Hardaway and social worker and psychotherapist Carolyn Placko.
Updated: March 24, 2012 8:53AM
It’s not often you hear death is back by popular demand. But at Unity Temple it is, where the second Seminar on End-of-Life Matters will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb. 25.
“We are going to set a fun tone and make it very conversational,” said Carol Kinsey, hospice nurse and seminar co-coordinator. “People will learn about a time that many would like to avoid thinking about, and leave feeling much more informed about issues that will hopefully be less scary.”
The seminar will introduce some of the many options and decisions surrounding the end of life, broken into five broad categories including: practical concerns about the body and funeral planning; legal aspects and what happens if certain documents — like wills and powers of attorney — don’t exist; grief; hospice care; and planning a memorial service.
Unity Temple held its first end-of-life event in April 2010 after Kinsey, a congregation member, offered to lead what she envisioned as an evening discussion on end-of-life matters. As others became involved in the planning and mentioned topics they wanted to hear addressed, the concept grew into a full-blown seminar format.
Kinsey coordinated the 2010 seminar, which was very well received, with fellow Unity Temple member Soon Har Tan. The two are again joining forces this year.
Participants at the first seminar included a mix of people concerned about their own end-of-life issues as well as people responsible for their parents or other aging loved ones. Kinsey recalled one father-daughter pair that attended even though the daughter, in her 40s, wasn’t initially keen on the idea. Her father, in his 70s, thought the issues were important for them to discuss together.
Overall, participants said they benefitted most from practical details presented at the seminar, including legal planning and hospice information.
“These issues are very easy to not think about,” said co-coordinator Tan. “At the seminar they will all be laid out and people will be able to ask questions. People really welcome the opportunity to sit face-to-face and ask things of professionals that can be difficult to discuss and that might even be considered weird. For instance, we had one person ask about how to plan a green [environmentally sensitive] funeral.”
Participants will appreciate the direct approach of seminar presenters, which in 2010 moved many of them to share their own experiences with subjects such as hospice care. Presenters and participants alike offered insight to help others understand why particular end-of-life situations had been particularly smooth or painful.
“People didn’t expect that they would be so personally and deeply moved by attending a seminar,” Tan said.
The seminar will conclude with a question-and-answer session. A $15 donation is suggested to cover the cost of handout materials and a lunch that will be provided. Please pre-register at adultre@unitytemple.org or by calling 708-848-6225, ext. 105. The day of the event, doors will open at 8:30 a.m. Unity Temple is located at 875 Lake St. in Oak Park.
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