'Right, before I die' at the Museum of Tolerance

In the context of California's End-of-Life Option Act and similar legislation – through which society has given its approval of physician-assisted suicide – and amid the current unmet needs of terminally ill people and well-recognized barriers to high quality palliative and hospice care, the exhibit also challenges us to reflect on our mortality and basic responsibilities to one another.

"'Right, before I die' creates the space for us to explore the possibility of well-being even as we are dying," said Ira Byock, M.D., chief medical officer at the Institute for Human Caring, "and illuminates the potential to reclaim a rich part of living through the twilight of our lives."

The six-week exhibit will feature special events, including:

• An evening with TED Talk megastar Dr. BJ Miller, Sept. 13. Miller will explore healthcare's dysfunctional relationship with death. Miller's passion for palliative care stems from personal experience – a near-fatal injury suffered while a Princeton undergraduate that cost him three limbs.
• Interfaith symposium – creating a culture of compassion, Sept. 28. This event will feature leaders from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as well as national figures from the Islamic, Jewish and Buddhist faiths.  
• This Is Your Life – win an iPad mini and healthy-living prizes during the Institute for Human Caring's social media event. Details will be announced Aug. 15.

Most of the people in the collection were patients of Marwa Kilani, M.D., medical director of palliative care at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center.

The work "has presented us with the challenge to examine our own lives and re-evaluate our priorities in hopes of minimizing regrets," Dr. Kilani said.

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About the Museum of Tolerance:
The Museum of Tolerance (MOT) is the educational arm of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an internationally renowned Jewish human rights organization. The only museum of its kind in the world, the MOT is dedicated to challenging visitors to understand the Holocaust in both historic and contemporary contexts and confront all forms of prejudice and discrimination in our world today. Established in 1993, the MOT has welcomed more than five million visitors, mostly middle and high school students. Visitors become witnesses to history and explore the dynamics of bigotry and discrimination that are still embedded in society today. Through interactive exhibits, special events, and customized programs for youths and adults, the MOT engages visitors' hearts and minds, while challenging them to assume personal responsibility for positive change.

About the Providence Institute for Human Caring:
The Providence Institute for Human Caring seeks to transform health care and strengthen ties to the communities Providence Health & Services serves. We are clinicians, educators, and health systems experts who believe everyone deserves the best care possible for physical health as well as for emotional, social and spiritual well-being. The Institute's goal: change health care culture to make caring for whole persons and their families the new normal. Serious illness not only affects people physically, it frequently robs them of their sense of security. People living with life-threatening medical conditions often say they feel lonely, frightened, confused and depressed. Whole person care melds state-of-the-art diagnostics and treatment with expertise and services to address their emotional, social and spiritual needs.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160729/394316

SOURCE Providence Institute for Human Caring

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