Promises To Keep

Murray, KY, 2000

In 1987, Murray and the Kentucky Lake region were named the nation's number-one retirement community, and an influx of seniors joined a population already older than national and state averages. The 2000 census showed a steady increase in the 65+ category, with a rapidly growing percentage in the 85+ range. Still, the only place where end-of-life issues were explored was the obituary page of the local newspaper. Promises to Keep, a collaboration of WKMS and Murray State University's Department of Nursing, acted as a catalyst for positive change by promoting open discussion about end-of-life issues. The project empowered people to:

• identify their end-of-life needs;
  
• establish open communication with families and caregivers about those needs;
  
• become familiar with local, state, and national resources; and
  
• explore creative ways to prepare for the end of life.

In order to create a series of documentaries on the end of life, WKMS enlisted the expertise and assistance of the Department of Nursing. Together the organizations wove the campaign into the curriculum of student nurses, who helped WKMS write press releases and 60-second public service announcements, talked with media, conducted interviews with people who have “lived experience,” and hosted brown bag lunches on end-of-life topics.

Nursing faculty have since developed a palliative care curriculum that includes the radio series as supplementary instructional material to help health care professionals meet their patients' end-of-life needs.

Additional outreach activities included art exhibits, plays, concerts, lectures, public meetings and readings. Promises to Keep coordinated these efforts with other end-of-life projects, including Journey's End, a Kentucky Hospital Association project to improve end-of-life care, and the PBS series On Our Own Terms.

The reporting and outreach on this delicate subject matter have been pervasive, and results range from a fund to help raise money for one interviewee who is without health insurance and is battling cancer for the third time in 13 years to nursing students who look at end of life in a different way—from the perspective of the aging.

Contact Information

WKMS-FM
Constance Alexander, Independent Producer
Tel: 270-753-9279

Murray State University Department of Nursing
Sharon McKenna, Senior Lecturer
Tel: 270-762-6223

Awards:

WKMS Round Two
Promises to Keep
Semi-finalist — Batten Award for Excellence in Civic Journalism

Additional Funding: Promises to Keep received a $10,000 grant from the Kentucky Arts Council, a $10,000 match from Murray State University, a mini-grant from the Kaiser Foundation and a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women for program continuation.