Seeking a Good Death

Boulder, CO, 1998

"I am the mother of a terminally ill child and have struggled with my understanding and acceptance of death. Your program has helped with this process and I am grateful."
— E-mail message from a listener

It sounds cliched to say it, but this really is the kind of comment that makes the work worthwhile. We named the first program in our series "Denial of Death"—unsure if that pervasive denial would prevent us from really reaching people with this project. But people did listen-they called in, attended the public talk and workshop, ordered tapes, and visited the website.

Our goal was to stimulate discussion and educate our community about end-of-life care issues and inform them about the range of services and support available in Boulder County to people facing these decisions for themselves or their loved ones.

KGNU produced a nine-week series of radio programs. The first and last programs in our series were live call-in shows discussing some of the common dilemmas and solutions surrounding end-of-life care. These programs generated powerful listener call-ins. In between these bookends, we presented programs on seven distinct topics. One was a fully produced, hour-long documentary exploring cross-cultural approaches to death and dying in the Buddhist, Latino Catholic, and Jewish communities in Boulder County. The remaining programs presented short features and panel discussions on advance directives, relieving suffering, hastening death, paying for end-of-life care, grief, and hospice care.

Hospice of Boulder County helped identify guests and topics, handled the publicity and outreach, and organized the public event that kicked off the project: author Marilyn Webb spoke to around 100 people about her book The Good Death. Hospice also organized a workshop in conjunction with the radio program on advance directives.

KGNU's website featured the complete audio of each program, resource links, bibliography and E-mail comments. We presented a substantial amount of information and many different perspectives on death, dying, and end-of-life care. The community benefited through listening, participating in the discussions, and attending the public forums-helping to create healthier attitudes toward death and dying.

Awards:

KGNU Round Three
Colorado Community Health Champion 2004
—Colorado Community Health Network
Local Documentary Award Finalist 2004
—National Federation of Community Broadcasters

Round One
Golden Reel Award, Best Local and Public Affairs Programming
—National Federation of Community Broadcasters