The Long Goodbye author Joe Klein Visits Richmond March 21

MEDARVA Healthcare is offering the Richmond community an incredible opportunity to learn more about caregiving and the challenges it presents. They are bringing Joe Klein, TIME Magazine columnist, to Richmond to help others learn how to better manage the hard decisions and difficult process of caregiving.

Caring for others

Making decisions for parents who can no longer care for themselves or make their own personal decisions is a daunting responsibility. Watching a loved one travel the road of darkness through dementia and Alzheimer's Disease is overwhelming at times. No matter the situation, caregiving takes a toll on the caregiver in many ways.

For anyone who has had the responsibility of making decisions for others and providing caregiving support, you already know that it is not an easy process. For others who have not experienced the challenges of caregiving and making personal decisions for others, you will likely face this dilemma one day in the future.

Joe Klein visits Richmond

Joe Klein will open your eyes to the many challenges of caregiving, and the challenges of navigating our complex medical systems. He offers a unique opportunity to see inside the lives of those who have experienced caregiving at its' worst and at its' best. Most importantly, he opens our eyes to what so many people experience every day as they face caregiving dilemmas.

Caring for an elderly or dying parent involves many difficult decisions. That’s why Medarva Healthcare has invited nationally known TIME Magazine columnist Joe Klein, author of the “The Long Goodbye” to speak to the Richmond community about his own experiences making healthcare decisions for his parents as their health steadily declined.

Event specifics

The event will take place Thursday, March 21, 2013, 7:00 p.m., at The Steward School’s Lora M. Robins Theatre, located at 11600 Gayton Rd, Richmond, VA 23238.

Tickets to the program are free. However, due to the anticipated turnout and limited seating capacity, registration is required. Please visit the website or call 804.775.4552 to register for the event, or to obtain more information.

“This is not an easy subject for anyone, but it’s a topic that needs to be addressed more often and by more people,” said Bruce P. Kupper, President/CEO of MEDARVA Healthcare. “With this in mind, one of Medarva Healthcare’s commitments to the community is to stimulate conversations on difficult subjects. The changing health care environment and end of life decisions are two such topics that need to be discussed under the guidance of local experts and those who have personal experiences, which others can learn from. Bringing in a speaker of Joe Klein’s caliber, demonstrates our commitment to doing it right.”

Speakers

Klein’s article, from the June 2012 edition of Time, is a close-up look at the tough decisions he faced managing the care for his parents in the final months of their lives. He also addresses the partnership that he formed with the physicians of the Geisinger Health System that made this difficult process a little easier. Knowing what his parents wanted, having realistic expectations, and having realistic physicians created an environment in which the best interests of his parents were placed above all else.

In addition to Klein, the event will also feature Dr. Raymond L. Spence, Jr., retired pastor of Second Baptist Church, speaking on the clergy’s perspective of end of life decisions; and Laurel (Laurie) Lyckholm, M.D., professor of Hematology/Oncology and Palliative Care at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center.

About Joe Klein

Joe Klein is one of America’s leading political journalists, a provocative and probing analyst of events in our nation’s capital and abroad. His weekly column “In the Arena” covers domestic and international affairs ranging from campaigns to healthcare.

A veteran of 10 presidential campaigns, Klein has been praised for his “dogged reporting, a thorough, subtle grasp of issues, and a clear-eyed, compelling style.” He is the rare political junkie who loves the intricacies of policy-making, has extensive sources not only within the US Government but throughout the world, and is at home as much in Damascus as he is in Des Moines.

Klein wrote the #1 bestseller, Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics, as “Anonymous.” The New York Times Book Review called it “one of the best political novels to appear in the latter half of the 20th Century;” it later became a major motion picture.

Klein has written more than 25 cover stories for TIME, ranging from political commentary and analysis to war stories in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2010, he has taken road trips across America driving through regions of the country interviewing voters, politicians, and community leaders about the nation’s most important concerns.

About MEDARVA Healthcare

Medarva Healthcare was formed in April 2012 and its roots can be traced back to October 31, 1951 when Richmond Eye Hospital was established. The Medarva Foundation is part of Medarva Healthcare (Medarva.com) and supports numerous medical care and education programs in Richmond’s community, as well as collaborative ventures with academic institutions, medical organizations and philanthropic groups to fund leading-edge research aimed at achieving important medical breakthroughs. The nonprofit includes Medarva at Stony Point Surgery Center.

For more information about Medarva Healthcare and this program, visit the website.

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, Richmond Caregiver Examiner

Rhonda Day is a freelance writer and editor with over 25 years of experience in the field of healthcare and management. She writes for a variety of local and national websites and is also a wife, mother, and grandmother. You can reach her at rhondaday@msn.com.

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