Hospice movement brings dignity to death
By MARIAN GREEN
01 the Emerald
Dying with dignity is some
thing hospitals and nursing
homes often can’t provide.
Now, there is another choice
— the hospice organization.
Peter Elliot-Wotton, Wellness
Project coordinator for the
Eugene Community Health and
Education Center, presented a
workshop Thursday on the hos
pice movement as part of the
Health Faire.
Elliot-Wotton said hospices,
which originated in the Middle
Ages, can improve the dying
patient’s “quality of life’’ in a
way hospitals can’t.
“Hospitals, doctors and
nurses are all oriented toward
cure — death is the enemy,” he
said.
In addition, while a large
number of medical personnel
think dying patients should not
be told they’re dying, most dy
ing patients want to talk about it,
Elliot-Wotton said.
This contradiction perpe
trates a "conspiracy of lies” that
is unhealthy for dying patients,
he said. It's unhealthy because
the longer knowledge of death
is kept from the patient, the
longer it takes the patient to
accept their imminent fate, he
said.
A hospice organization
provides centrally administered
home and inpatient services for
those who wish to acknowledge
their condition, he said.
Vets conference
runs this weekend
The second annual Western
Regional Conference of Viet
nam Era Veterans begins to
night at the University.
Registration for the three-day
event is from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m.
in Room 101 EMU. The confer
ence is free.
The conference begins Sat
urday at 8:50 a.m. with a wel
coming address in Room 150
Geology followed by a panel
discussion on Agent Orange
from 9 a m. until 10:20 a.m. A
workshop on the Delayed Stress
Response Syndrome is
scheduled from 10:30 a.m. until
11:40 p.m.
After a lunch break, the con
ference continues at 1 p.m. in
Room 150 Geology with a dis
cussion on women veterans and
women as partners of veterans.
Scheduled from 2:30 p.m. to
3:50 p.m. is the workshop
“Preventing Another ‘Noble
Cause’ ” followed by a discus
sion on incarcerated veterans
from 4 p.m to 5:20 p.m.
The movie "King of Hearts” is
scheduled at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
in Room 180 PLC for confer
ence participants.
On Sunday, the conference
begins with announcements at
9 a m. followed by a workshop
on veteran employment issues
at 9:30 a m. until 10:50 a.m. The
last event of the conference is
“Political Legislation and Ac
tivism" from 11 a.m. to 12:20
p.m.
For more information on the
conference call 686-4098
Career help scheduled
A series of career workshops
is scheduled April 20-24, by the
University career planning and
placement office.
All workshops will be held
from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in
Room 101 EMU.
Career topics scheduled for
discussion at the workshops in
clude:
• Monday — “Hot Careers
For The 80s”
• Tuesday — “Majors-Ca
reers”
• Wednesday — “Help Want
ed: Experience Required”
• Thursday — “Finding The
Hidden Job Market”
• Friday — “The Federal
Connection”
Contact the Career Planning
and Placement Center in Room
246 Susan Campbell Hall for
more information.
rsmu
Cultural Forum
Invites applications for
the following positions:
Folk Music Concerts
Film and Literature
Performing Arts
Contemporary Issues
If you have the
least amount of
interest, stop by
the office and
learn more about
the rewarding
experience of
working on the
Cultural Forum.
These are volunteer student positions
offering intense practical experience
coordinating major events.
Applications and job descriptions are now
available in Suite 2, EMU. Deadline for
applying is Friday, April 17.
Hospice workers, often
volunteers who have taken a
hospice course, stay with the
patient and family and give
“symptom control" support.T
his support involves alleviating
the patient’s pain and the fami
ly’s anxiety.
Hospice volunteers must
weigh the fear of a patient
growing too reliant on pain
killers and the patient’s fear of
pain, he said.
‘If the patient is cranky, you
cheer,” he said. "We want to
keep the patient alert by avoid
ing medication that deadens the
senses."
Soon the patient begins to
believe it, and the hospice
volunteer then can reduce the
dosage and still relieve the pain.
Elliot-Wotton calls this process
“reverse toleration.”
Hospice volunteers “make a
special effort to ensure the pa
tient’s dignity is respected," he
said.
“The patient, first, and the
family, second, should be al
lowed to make decisions," he
said. "If a patient has six months
to live in the hospital and wants
to go home where he has only
six days to live, that's the pa
tient’s decision."
If a doctor orders it, patients
usually can finance hospice
help through insurance. Extra
expenses, such as family care
after a patient’s death, aren't
covered, he said. Volunteers
provide those services.
More information on hospices
can be obtained from the Ho
spice Resource Center, which is
located in St.Mary's Episcopal
Church, 106 East 13th Ave.
IIC.INK
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APRIL 18
** Mirch 'laris at 12 ttQfln ai Uth and Kincaid
■■ Kali* Maris a! I PM ai I ugette Mall (I Ith A; Willamette
KallV ** Parking 1 oi)
Evening Program ♦* ''3
starts ai 6:30 PM Emerald Baptist C hureh
19th & Patterson
Rally Speakers:
Richardo Melara - Official
spokesperson for the
Democratic Revolutionary
Front, El Salvador
Congressman Jim Weaver
Gene Bailey - Secretary
treasurer for the ILWU
Local 12, representing
the International
Longshoreman Workers’
Union
Marion Malcolm - Clergy and
Laity Concerned
Susan Morales - American
Indian Movement, Seattle
Sue Gordon - President,
Oregon Church Women
United
Entertainment, featuring:
Grupo Raiz - Internationally acclaimed Chilean folk ensemble
CO-SPONSORS AND FINANCIAL SUPPORTERS
African People’s Solidarity Committee
Birkenstock
Citizens Party
Clergy and Laity Concerned
Coalition Opposing Registration
and the Draft
Shelia Cordray
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Country Volkswagon Cooperative
Cull Crew Forestry Workers
Democratic Party (Lane County)
Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee
Eugene Club, Communist Party U.S.A.
Eugene Council for Human Rights in Latin
America
Excelsior Cafe
General Union of Palestinian Students
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Graduate 'Peaching Fellows Federation
(Executive Board)
Industrial Workers of the World
Iranian-American Friendship Committee
Iranian Students Association
Latino Club, Lane Community College
Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
Mandala Family Health Center
Mayday Cultural Committee
MECHA
National Lawyers Guild
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Northwest Working Press
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People for South African Freedom
People’s Anti-war Mobilization May 3rd
Proutist Universal
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Sundance
Support Committee for Human Rights in
l^tin America, Ashland, Ore.
Wallflower Dance Collective
Wildwood School
Willamette People’s Food Co-op (staff)
Women Against War
Women’s International League for Peace
and Freedom (Cottage Grove)
W'omen’s Moneyshare
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ENDORSERS
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Ananda Marga
Arab Student Organization
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frying pan Publications
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Nurses Association District 5
Rep. Margie Hcndriksen
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Hoedad’s Cooperative
Home Fried Truck Stop
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Reverend Doug Huneke
Jeb’s
Jewish Study Group
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Mother Kali’s Books
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Non-Violent Tactics Development Project
Northwest Media for Social Change
Commissioner Scott Lieuallen
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Peace Conversion Center
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People for Prison Alternatives
Rape Crisis Network
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Commissioner Jerry Rust
Second Nature Used Bikes
Son of Koobdooga
University Veterans
Women’s Resource and Referral
Councilwomen Cynthia Wooten
Women Fight Back
Women’s Press
Young Democrats of Oregon