| Since
it was established in 1996, Aging with Dignity has distributed more
than three million copies of the Five Wishes document; established a network of more than
7,000 Five Wishes distributors nationally; made a
difference in the lives of patients and their families through advocacy; spearheaded
Awakening 2000; presented more than 300 advance care planning workshops; recognized
individuals and facilities that promote human dignity and show compassion; and hosted
statewide forums on elder issues.
This page includes
highlights from the year 2002 until the present.
For
accomplishments from 1996 to 2001, click here.
January 2002
Aging with Dignity exhibits Five Wishes at the "Supportive Care of
the Dying Conference" in Tucson, Arizona;
presents "Five Wishes at Work" to
Phoenix-area employers; and meets with Arizona state chapter of the
Society of Human Resource Managers.
February 2002 President Bush
appoints Aging with Dignity Founder, Jim Towey, as the Director of the White House Office
of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.
Feb. 27, 2002
Aging with Dignity presents "Five Wishes at Work" to employees of the U.S.
Department of State in Washington, D.C.
March 4, 2002
The Board of Directors for Aging with Dignity names Paul Malley as
the organization's new president.
Malley joined Aging with
Dignity in 1998 as Communications Director and Program Manager. He
was a key force in the national rollout of Five Wishes.
April 2002
Aging with Dignity exhibits Five Wishes during a conference on palliative
care at the University of South Florida.
May 7, 2002
Aging with Dignity presents "Five Wishes at Work" to employees at
the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. The
workshop was filmed and made available to Department of Justice
employees nationally.
June 22-25,
2002 The annual conference of the Society of Human
Resources Professionals features a "Five Wishes at Work"
exhibit. The
Philadelphia event draws 10,000 professionals.
August 2002
Aging with Dignity exhibits "Five Wishes at Work" at the Catholic
Health Care Conference in Chicago. Catholic Charities in the
Archdiocese of Chicago distributes 2,000 copies of Five Wishes to
employees and their families.
Sept. 29-Oct. 2, 2002 Paul Malley presents "Five Wishes at
Work" at the Benefits Management Forum and Expo in Dallas.
Malley also completes an interview for Dallas/Ft. Worth
public television.
Oct. 18,
2002 Aging with Dignity hosts a press conference on
elder issues for the Florida gubernatorial campaign. The event
draws 14 journalists, who generate print and broadcast stories throughout
Florida.
November 2002
Community Hospice of Northeast Florida (Jacksonville, Florida) hosts
its third annual "Day of Decision" which results in the distribution
of more than 150,000 Five Wishes in the area. Volunteers
distribute the document at shopping malls, grocery stores, libraries
and other places that allow them to put Five Wishes
into people's hands.
Nov.
18-19, 2002 Paul Malley delivers the keynote address at WestMass
Elder Care's annual meeting in Massachusetts.
Nov.
22-24, 2002 Malley joins the Lieutenant Governor of
Illinois and Dr. Robert Atkins in a panel discussion on health care.
The panel convenes in San Diego at the annual conference for
the National Association of Women Legislators.
Dec. 13,
2002 The Awards Committee of the Alliance of Work Life
Professionals interviews Malley and selects Aging with Dignity
as one of five finalists for their "Innovative Excellence Award."
Jan. 10,
2003 The Alliance of Work Life Professionals announces
Aging with Dignity as one of three recipients of the 8th Annual
Innovative Excellence Award. The alliance praises "Five Wishes
at Work" for giving employees a way to make decisions about their own
health care and start conversations with their loved ones.
Jan. 20-23,
2003 Aging with Dignity returns for a repeat presentation
at the U.S. Department of State, less than a year after the debut of "Five
Wishes at Work" with that agency.
May 2003 The National
Naval Medical Center at Bethesda begins using Five Wishes at its
flagship medical facility.
May 2003 "Five Wishes
at Work" is presented to the Georgia state chapter of the Society of
Human Resource Managers, and the work-life director for Delta Airlines, in
Atlanta, Georgia. Rockdale Memorial Hospital (near Atlanta)
hosts a series of thee workshops, each presented by Paul Malley, to
kick off Rockdale's Five Wishes initiative.
June 9-11, 2003 Aging
with Dignity exhibits Five Wishes and related resources at the
annual Catholic Healthcare Association conference in Orlando,
Florida. Gloria Keeney, Outreach Coordinator, presents Five
Wishes to a special committee meeting regarding long term care.
June 2003 Chesapeake
General Hospital (Chesapeake, Virginia) continues its effort to
encourage advance care planning and reaches the milestone of
distributing 85,000 copies of Five Wishes in less than four years.
June 2003 Ceridian, a
company that provides human resource and employee effectiveness
services to more than 20 million employees (18 percent of the American
workforce), begins offering Five Wishes at Work through its LifeWorks program.
July 2003 Exempla
Health System (Denver, Colorado) requests more copies of Five
Wishes, bringing the total number of copies distributed by this
health system to more than 100,000.
August 2003 Memorial
Health Services (Long Beach, California) begins using Five Wishes at
its healthcare facilities and plans to annually distribute 100,000
copies of Five Wishes (and the Spanish version) in Southern
California.
September 2003 Five
Wishes is exhibited at the Administration on Aging's National Summit
on "Creating Caring Communities" in Orlando, Florida.
October 2003 Delta
Airlines hosts a "Five Wishes at Work" event for all employees at
Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport.
Oct. 22, 2003 Aging
with Dignity recognizes the five-year anniversary of Five Wishes.
The document was introduced nationally on October 22, 1998, at the
National Press Club in Washington D.C. Since then more than
three million Americans have turned to Five Wishes to express their
preferences in case of a serious illness, and more than 5,000
organizations (hospitals, hospices, employers, attorneys, places of
worship, financial planners, long term care facilities and others)
are distributing the document.
November 14, 2003
Fifty employees of Florida's Executive Office of the Governor
attended a Five Wishes workshop; and 20 journalists attended a press
conference for fifth anniversary of Five Wishes as a national
document. Featured speakers included U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, Jim
Towey and Paul Malley.
November 20, 2003
Two hundred
employees of Long Beach Memorial Health Services attended a Five
Wishes “kick-off” presentation.
December 2-4, 2003
Five Wishes presented to
administrators at Ethics Committee meeting for Elmhurst Hospital, as
a possible new distributor in Chicago. Five Wishes and Next Steps
Dinner in Naperville attended by 15 health care professionals
(representing organizations such as Elmhurst Hospital, Central
DuPage Hospital, Hematology Oncology Associates, etc.). A Five
Wishes Luncheon was attended by more than 20 professionals (from
organizations such as VITAS Healthcare, Rainbow Hospice, Evanston
Northwestern Healthcare, Advocate Hospice, etc.).
December 9, 2003 Aging
with Dignity participated in a national round-table discussion on
advance care planning, hosted by
Rallying Points/ Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and held in
Chicago.
January 28, 2004 Five Wishes “kick-off” events at Holy
Cross Hospital in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, included presentations to hospital directors, ethics
committee members, pastoral care staff and community
representatives, along with a television interview. Also
participated in a panel discussion on advance care planning, with
medical, ethical and legal experts.
February 2, 2004
Participated in a Five Wishes
round-table discussion in Pittsburgh with representatives from the local Rallying
Points coalition, United Way, hospice, Pennsylvania Administration
on Aging, and others. Round table convened by the medical director
of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield.
In addition, more than
500 employees of Highmark attended “Five Wishes at Work”
lunch-and-learn sessions in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.
February 9, 2004 “Maintaining God-Given Human Dignity
at the End of Life” presentation attended by 150 participants from
the 2004 Catholic Continuing Care Ministry Symposium in St.
Petersburg, FL.
February 18, 2004
Traveled to Philadelphia to tape interview for “Seeking Solutions
with Suzanne,” a national TV program aired on Comcast Cable systems,
and in condensed-format on CNN.
Back to Aging with Dignity's home page.
1-888-5-WISHES e-mail:
fivewishes@agingwithdignity.org |
