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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kristin Puckett, 615-564-8481, [email protected]
With Americans Unclear About End-of-Life Wishes, Local Events Bring Understanding
Fort Worth, Tex., March XX, 2015 – While most Americans support the individual’s right to decide
whether to be kept alive through medical treatment, far fewer have made their own wishes clear. The
public can learn about advance care planning and ask questions at any of three seminars being held
locally 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., Apr. 16, which is National Healthcare Decisions Day. Admission to the
events is free and lunch is included; RSVPs are necessary by April 13 and can be made by calling 682367-6248. The event locations and speakers are:

Location: Brookdale Arlington, 1250 W. Pioneer Pkwy., Arlington
Speaker: Lisa Ash, elder law, probate and guardianship attorney

Location: Brookdale Broadway Cityview, 5301 Bryant Irvin Rd., Fort Worth
Speaker: Tammie Guinn, nurse consultant, Guinn Senior Care Solutions

Location: Brookdale Ridgmar, 2151 Green Oaks Rd., Fort Worth
Speaker: David Lowe, chaplain, Baylor Health Services
Eighty-four percent of Americans support laws allowing the terminally ill to decide whether medical
treatment should keep them alive, according to the Pew Research Center. However, the United States
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality says fewer than half of the medical records for people with a
severe or terminal illness contain advance directives. The majority of doctors whose patients have
directives do not know about them.
“We meet seniors on a daily basis who haven’t thought about or talked to their families about what is
important to them at the end of their life,” said Emily Hovde Belew, healthcare administrator for
Broadway Plaza City View. “The seminars being held at the three Brookdale communities will provide
practical information on how to begin these conversations, how to make these healthcare decisions and
how to complete the paperwork so the decisions may be honored.”
For more information about Brookdale, visit brookdale.com.
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Brookdale Senior Living Inc. is a leading owner and operator of senior living communities throughout the United States. The
Company is committed to providing senior living solutions within properties that are designed, purpose-built and operated to
provide the highest-quality service, care and living accommodations for residents. Currently Brookdale operates independent
living, assisted living, and dementia-care communities and continuing care retirement centers, nearly 1,150 communities in 46
states and the ability to serve approximately 110,000 residents. Through its ancillary services programs, the Company also offers
a range of outpatient therapy, home health, personalized living and hospice services.