Judith Schwarz, PhD, is the Clinical Director of End of Life Choices New York and a nationally recognized expert on VSED. In her recent post on Medium, “What is a ‘dementia directive’ to stop eating and drinking?” Schwarz explains the use of an advanced directive to prevent handfeeding in later stages of dementia. The article …
Reblog: Dementia Directive information from EoL Choices NY Read More »
In mid-February, VRNW co-founders Nancy Simmers and Andrea Fenwick were interviewed for an article that appeared in the Salish Current, a nonprofit, online local news organization serving Whatcom, San Juan, and Skagit counties. Journalist Kai Uyehara also interviewed Cassa Sutherland, End of Life Washington‘s client services manager, and Lashanna Williams, executive director of Seattle-based A Sacred …
In the News: VRNW members interviewed by the Salish Current Read More »
Recently, retired newspaper photographer Peter Haley penned an editorial in the Seattle Times: “State’s ‘Death with Dignity’ law failed my wife.” In his piece, Haley wrote that Toni, his “beloved wife of 27 years,” was forced to die alone because Washington state’s medical aid-in-dying (MAID) law doesn’t cover ALS. Toni chose to die on her …
VRNW Member Responds to Seattle Times Article about WA’s Death with Dignity/MAID Law Read More »
In Whatcom County, which VSED Resources Northwest calls home, the only hospital is run by a faith-based healthcare system that chooses not to medically support Washington State’s Death with Dignity law. In the past, both patients and medical providers have been confused about what the hospital’s responsibility is to offer accurate information and referral information …
More Training Needed for Washington’s Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1608 Read More »
Novelist and VRNW member Kate Christie, whose mother Jane used VSED in early 2020 to escape the late stages of Alzheimer’s disease, has released a new book, The VSED Handbook: A Practical Guide to Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking. A combination instructional manual/personal memoir, The VSED Handbook provides detailed instructions for planning and carrying out …
Book Release: The VSED Handbook by Kate Christie Read More »
Recently, VSED Resources Northwest coordinator and co-founder Nancy Simmers published a piece on the Good Death Society blog, a project of Final Exit Network (FEN). To read more, visit Sharing VSED Resources In My Community – The Good Death Society Blog.
Hi. I’m Kate, daughter of Jane, who is the reason I’m here in more ways than one–“here” as in the world, but also “here” working with VSED Resources Northwest. My mom, with the support of most of our family, chose to end her life on her own terms in February 2020 by voluntarily stopping eating …
A new end-of-life planning video from Compassion & Choices came out this month, and we wanted to share it. From the video description: “This year people all over the world have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, experiencing isolation, economic challenges, losing loved ones and so much more. This year has also shone a brighter …
RN, Death Doula, and Co-Founder & Coordinator of VSED Resources Northwest Years ago, as a returning Peace Corps Volunteer, I applied to nursing school envisioning my life calling as a midwife. A self-proclaimed feminist, I was sure that women’s roles would drastically change during my lifetime, but that pregnancy and childbearing and reproductive choices would …
Death Doula, Social Worker, and Hospice Volunteer My desire to support people in end-of-life choices and to work in this field originates from the experience of my mother’s death to ovarian cancer when I was 15 and she was just 39. This experience was shrouded in isolation with no one speaking about the “elephant in …
