• Press Releases
• In Print
• Other Media
• Archives

Press Releases

Better Ending Changes Name

(Worcester MA July 9, 2007) – The Central Massachusetts Partnership to Improve Care at the End of Life, Inc. has changed its name to the Better Ending Partnership.  According to Executive Director Christine McCluskey, “We’ve used the name ‘Better Ending’ for our projects all along, and the shorter name is easier to remember. We have  retained our regional identification with the tag line “... improving end of life care in Central Massachusetts.”

The Better Ending Partnership is a community coalition of professional, civic, business and religious leaders committed to the vision that all persons in Central Massachusetts live their last days in this life as comfortably as possible, in the setting of their choice, according to their expressed wishes, while they and their families are supported by a caring community.

On June 6, the Worcester Business Journal recognized the Better Ending Partnership for its community service, honoring it as a 2007 Health Care Hero. Since the Partnership's formation five years ago, more than 100 volunteers serving on different work groups examined aspects of end-of-life care and produced multi-cultural versions of its Guide for a Better Ending brochure. The Guide promotes having a health care proxy, a person you name to speak for you if you cannot speak for yourself. The work groups have recently re-organized to promote improving end-of-life care in health care institutions, and to encourage hospice and palliative care where appropriate.

The Partnership’s web site www.betterending.org has an easily downloadable Massachusetts health care proxy form and related materials, as well as its signature eight-page brochure A Guide for a Better Ending. A volunteer from its Speakers Bureau can appear before community groups interested in learning about how to prepare in advance for serious illness.

For further information, contact Christine McCluskey, RN, Executive Director, Better Ending Partnershiip, at (508) 767-9877 or visit www.BetterEnding.org.