Download 203 Days by Bailey Barash

203 Days by Bailey Barash
Sarah is 89 and dying. Her daughter Kaye takes over the caregiving role and she brings
her mother Sarah to live with her. Sarah’s fight to remain a viable, loving, useful woman
for as long as she can in the face of her illness is quite palpable. When hospice is
presented to both women as a choice for living, it is clearly evident what a valuable
service it is. As Sarah’s health declines and Kay’s stress increases, the tough decisions
that anyone in this position needs to make are brought to the forefront. The film
concludes with Sarah’s death portrayed as a natural part of life filled with its intrinsic
joys, sorrows, and love.
http://fitsweb.uchc.edu/days/days.html
After watching the video, participants were broken into small groups with each group
assigned one of the following activities.
1. Describe the patient’s experience of decline and death. Describe the patient’s change
in mentation from the beginning to the end of the video.
Describe the patient’s change in appearance from the beginning to the end of the video.
How was the patient’s pace of decline different from what you have experienced? What
did you think about the daughter’s assessment of patient’s quality of life related to
continuing to take pills and eat?
2. Describe the differences between the process of dying inside and outside the hospital:
The social interactions
The role of the physician
Use of medications Impact on the family
3. Relate their experiences to your personal and family values about death and dying
What hits home for you personally?
What day had the most impact for you?
4. Formulate concepts, based on your observations of this video, for your care of dying
patients in the future.
What obstacles did you see interfere with reaching the patient’s goals?
How will you try to avoid them?
What actions will you try to emulate?
What type of personal interactions will you seek?