A new CD-ROM developed at Michigan State University is designed to help people living with advanced illnesses address the important issues - ranging from the medical to the financial to the spiritual - they face as they approach the end of life.
Health care professionals and multimedia designers from MSU, along with partners from Detroit's Henry Ford Health System, have spent more than two years creating this comprehensive resource called "Completing a Life." The CD-ROM provides a wealth of information on topics such as pain management, emotional needs, advance directives and reaching closure in personal relationships.
"'Completing a Life' is all about empowering people to live as fully as they can in life's last stages and in accordance with their own values," said Karen Ogle, director of MSU's Palliative Care Education and Research Program and co-developer of the CD-ROM. "Because the product is richly interactive, users can chart their own pathway through the material by choosing the resources that matter to them as individuals."
The CD-ROM is divided into three main content areas:
* Taking Charge - staying active in decisions about health care, family and everyday living.
* Finding Comfort - easing pain and suffering, and living with dignity at this time of life.
* Reaching Closure - coming to terms with the past, present and future, and exploring the possibilities for spiritual growth.
A centerpiece of the program is a personal stories section that features the real-life narratives of people who have confronted terminal illness. These stories are told by the people who lived them in their own words.
"The video narratives are very personal and very moving," said Darcy Greene, a project director at MSU's Communication Technology Laboratory and "Completing a Life" co-author. "The stories also illuminate many of the topics addressed in the content sections, and we've cross-linked them with the text to enhance the users' interactive experience."
"Completing a Life" was created at MSU by the Communication Technology Laboratory and the Palliative Care Education and Research Program. Along with MSU, the Henry Ford Health System and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also provided support for the project.
Other funding was provided by the Cancer Center at MSU; the MSU Office of Libraries, Computing and Technology; and the Michigan Department of Community Health.
To purchase a copy of "Completing a Life," call (517) 353-9229, or visit the "Completing a Life" Web site for online ordering. The Web site is at: http://www.completingalife.msu.edu
Contact: Tom Oswald, University Relations, (517) 355-2281
Darcy Greene, Journalism, (517) 353-7151
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