uoatumult,
Life's Journeys
A message from Dottie Deremo,
President/CEO, Hospice of Michigan
S
ince CEOs are often thought
to be number crunchers, allow
me to "crunch" a few numbers
you may find of particular interest.
For 99,000 years of human history,
the average life span was just 18
years. In 1900 the average life span
had increased to 46 years. By 2010,
life expectancy is expected to reach
84 for women and 75 for men.
More significant numbers for you
to consider: The U.S. population
over the age of 65 will almost double
by the year 2020. The average age of
U.S. nurses is 44; only 10 percent of
all nurses are under the age of 30.
Nursing shortage looms
Why cite the age of nurses in
this demographic mix? Because this
increase of elders significantly
increases the size of the population
who will require caregivers, and we
face an acute shortage of nurses to
staff hospitals and nursing homes.
This is where 80 percent of the pop-
ulation dies, and sadly, this popula-
tion often dies bedridden and in
pain. The projected shortage of nurs-
es, now being addressed by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human
Services, threatens to exacerbate the
situation.
One more statistic to consider: A
recent study by the National Hospice
Foundation indicated that 90 percent
of people want to die at home.
Plan ahead for care
These facts and figures might
suggest it may be time for you to
confront end-of-life issues so that you
might be educated and informed
about them while you are still in
good mental and physical health.
How easy it is to avoid critical
decisions. In this country we tend to
think of death as an option! If we
ignore it, it will somehow go away.
How much better to acknowledge it
and plan for it, so that when it does
approach, plans are in place — end-
of-life directives have been safely
stored in safe deposit boxes, with
copies in the hands of your designat-
ed health care advocates.
Straightforward discussions with fam-
ily members, rabbi and physicians
have clarified your wishes. You face
whatever the future holds with peace
of mind.
Michigan recognizes the right of
people to designate someone to be a
power of attorney for health care.
This person will speak for you, if you
are too ill to speak, rerding your
wishes for care at the end of life. You
can get the papers to make this des-
ignation from your attorney, your
doctor or our Web site,
www.hom.org/directives.html.
A good number cruncher is also
mindful of the human side of the
business ledger. The numbers I have
cited have led Hospice of Michigan to
consider innovative and alternative
approaches to health care. We are
studying an approach that I call the
High Tech/Nigh Touch imperative.
The goal is to make it possible for the
90 percent who wish to die at home
to have the care and services they
require, despite the shrinking num-
ber of nurses and nurses aides in the
workforce. We believe technology
can help us reach more people who
need our care and help us better
handle the considerable documenta-
tion that can eat into our time for
patients and families.
Join us at Adat Shalom
And finally, it is the human side
of the business ledger that has led
Hospice of Michigan to develop its
Jewish Hospice Program. Our Jewish
Advisory Committee is currently plan-
ning outreach programs under the
direction of our senior development
officer, Pola Friedman. The first of
these programs will take place on
Thursday, April 19, at Adat Shalom
Synagogue in Farmington Hills,
beginning at 7:15 p.m. I will be one
of the speakers on a panel that will
be moderated by Arthur Horwitz,
publisher of the Jewish News.
If you'd like more information on
the program, call 248-443-5900. Or if
you would like more information
about our hospice services, contact
Bobbie Blitz, our Jewish liaison
specialist, at 248-443-5907 or page
her at 248-966-8262.
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Institute Honors
Religious Leaders
At its annual Dove Dinner to be held
on Thursday, May 3, the Ecumenical
Institute will honor the most Rev.
Leonard P Blair and Rabbi Dannel
Schwartz.
For the past eight years, the institute
has given the Dove
Award to individuals
who set an example of
leadership to our com-
munity in the area of
Jewish-Christian rela-
tions.
This year, the
award has been
renamed the James
Lyons
Award in
Rabbi Schwartz
Jewish-Christian
Relations to honor the
legacy of the institute's
founder. Bishop Blair
and Rabbi Schwartz
were both friends of
the late Rev. Lyons
and are longtime sup-
porters of the insti-
tute.
The Rev. Blair is
Bishop Blair
the pastor of St. Paul
on the Lake Church
in Grosse Pointe Farms and is an auxil-
iary bishop of the archdiocese of
Detroit. His ministry includes serving at
Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in
Harper Woods, St. Christopher and St.
Christine parishes in Detroit. While
serving as ecumenical officer of the
Archdiocese, Bishop Blair was a member
of the Ecumenical Institute's Board of
Trustees.
The founding rabbi of Temple Shir
Shalom in West Bloomfield, Rabbi
Schwartz is treasurer of the North
American Board of Rabbis. He has
served as president of the Michigan
Board of Rabbis and the
Birmingham/Bloomfield Clergy
Council. He is a chaplain for the
Southfield Police Department and
William Beaumont Hospital in Royal
Oak. Rabbi Schwartz and Temple Shir
Shalom have hosted Ecumenical
Institute programs, including the 1997
church-synagogue tour.
The Dove Dinner will be held at
Cranbrook Institute of Science in
Bloomfield Hills. Dinner co-chairs are
Helen Daoud and Hilary Isakow. The
evening will begin with a cocktail recep-
tion at 6:30 p.m.; the awards ceremony
will begin at 7 p.m., followed by dinner.
Tickets are 5175 per person.