Grief Dialogues

Mission

Using the arts, Grief Dialogues advances essential and beneficial conversations about dying, death, and grief with medical providers and their patients and families, building a culture of greater compassion within the health care industry.

Description

Grief Dialogues serves the health care industry exclusively, using theatrical productions as a platform to build a culture of greater compassion. Grief Dialogues' Specific, Measurable, Achievable, and Time-bound (SMART) objectives include providing original theatre productions to:
1. Foster greater compassion about dying, death, and grief - Produce and deliver new works/plays depicting various scenarios of dying, death, grief, and compassion (or lack thereof). Partner with health care providers to produce The Grief Dialogues. Deliver GDHCE Continuing Education Credits (CEC) for the health care professional audience. (X plays/per year)
2. Engage the health care industry and the communities it serves in compassionate health care planning and delivery - Build and deliver GDHCE theatre performances to coalitions of resources and partners, including health care providers (e.g., Henry Ford Health System, Virginia Mason Medical Center, St. John Ascension Hospital), community-based organizations (e.g., Cancer Lifeline, Kline Galland Hospice, People's Memorial Association), universities (e.g., University of Washington Schools of Medicine and Social Work, University of Memphis School of Psychology), and national and international organizations (e.g., The Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Foundation, the Portland Institute of Loss and Transition, Live Well, Die Well Tour) to engage health care professionals in the power of compassion when planning and delivering care to patients, families, and their communities.

Recognition

Our organization Grief Dialogues was prominently featured in the January issue of Seattle Magazine in the article "Breaking the Last Taboo." Our book Grief Dialogues: Stories of Love and Loss is nominated for the Pacific Northwest Book Association award.