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Better Ending Program Airs on Channel 13

Worcester Community TV Helps Families Plan Ahead

(Worcester, MA, September 9, 2005)—There is now a Better Ending on local television. WCCA TV 13 in Worcester is supporting this end-of-life-care initiative to assist Central MA families with the difficult subject. A 30-minute informative program will air several times throughout September.

The Better Ending initiative is a creation of the Central Massachusetts Partnership to Improve Care at the End of Life, Inc. The Partnershipis 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.

Additional public access channels in Central Massachusetts have been encouraged to support the initiative. The 30-minute video program will feature experts in the field of end-of-life-care, the creators and executive director of the Central Massachusetts Partnership, and other spokespersons for the Better Ending initiative. A studio audience participates in a Q&A session. The importance of completing a health care proxy form is explained, along with other vital considerations relevant to the issue.

The program will air Wednesday, September 14th at 3:30PM, Thursday, September 22nd at 12:30PM, and Tuesday, September 27th at 4:00PM. 

“We are thrilled that Better Ending is now going to reach a much wider audience,” confirmed Christine McCluskey, Executive Director of The Central Massachusetts Partnership to Improve Care at the End of Life, Inc. “Better Ending isproviding information, health care proxy forms, and acting as a guiding resource to diverse families who too often struggle with the feelings of helplessness over these issues. I look forward to a time when all of our neighbors and colleagues in Central MA are fully informed about their options.”

The Better Ending initiative is fully described on the web site www.betterending.org. Information, instructions, the brochure A Guide for a Better Ending, a Massachusetts health care proxy form, and related materials are available directly from the site, and easily downloadable. Now there are three additional versions of the Guide, designed with the Latino, Vietnamese, and African American communities of Central MA in mind. Through Better Ending’s Speakers Bureau, volunteers are available -- at no charge -- to appear before community groups and at places of employment that are interested in learning about advance care planning and other end-of-life issues.

Founded in 2002, The Central Massachusetts Partnership to Improve Care at the End of Life, Inc. is supported through the generosity of many grantors and in-kind donors including businesses, health care institutions, foundations, and individuals.

For further information, contact Christine McCluskey, RN, Executive Director, Central Massachusetts Partnership to Improve Care at the End of Life, Inc. at (508) 767-9877 or visit www.betterending.org.