Life Matters Media

Life Matters Media is a Chicago-based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization offering news, information, education and resources for those involved in end of life decision-making.[1][2][3][4]

The organization was founded in 2013 by WGN-TV journalist Randi Belisomo and oncologist Mary F. Mulcahy, an associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.[5][6][7]

Overview

Life Matters Media provides news, opinion, and general information about end of life-related issues, such as hospice care, palliative medicine, and advance health care planning.[8][9][10][11][12]

According to the organization, end of life decisions should be considered carefully, and neutral platforms are best for encouraging frank dialogue about them. The website is written and managed by Belisomo and reporter Daniel Gaitan.[13][14][15]

History

Life Matters Media was founded by Randi Belisomo, a journalist, and Mary F. Mulcahy, a physician, who realized that they failed in communicating about what was truly important during a crucial time.[16] Mulcahy and Belisomo formed the 501(c)3 in 2013 with the vision that their work could result in easier and more comprehensive dialogue about issues pertaining to the end of life. They realized the wide-ranging ramifications of the absence of these important discussions and the planning and preparation that stem from them.[17]

Belisomo’s husband, journalist Carlos Hernandez Gomez,[18] was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer in 2009 at age 35. He came into the care of Mulcahy, a medical oncologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.[19] Though Mulcahy always told the couple that his cancer was incurable, she did stress that it was "treatable."

Sooner than Belisomo was prepared for, she found herself in an intensive care unit, making a decision to withdraw life support. Months after his death, Belisomo approached Mulcahy to ask her why she never told them that Hernandez Gomez was "dying." The question stumped her, but it changed the way Mulcahy practiced medicine.[20]

In forming Life Matters Media, Mulcahy and Belisomo hope to normalize the conversation about death so that families have the opportunity to pursue their most ideal vision of true quality of life at the end of life.[21][22][23]

Website

The organization produces original content and often covers stories receiving scant attention.[24]

A wide range of policy makers, health and law reporters and ethicists contribute articles and op-eds, in addition to the organization's daily news coverage. Some contributors endorse physician-assisted suicide, while others write against the controversial practice.[25][26][27]

The organization avoids partnerships and monetary contributions from organizations advocating physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. However, it respects all beliefs and traditions.[28]

In 2017, Gaitan was interviewed by producers of CNBC's American Greed for his reporting on Passages Hospice, a now-shuttered Illinois for-profit hospice company that fraudulently billed Medicare millions of dollars and exploited some of the state's most vulnerable.[29]

The organization is supported by individual donors and foundations including the Dr. Scholl Foundation, Grant Health Care Foundation, MR Bauer Foundation and Community Memorial Foundation.

Public Education and Outreach

The organization’s educational and outreach program is a major initiative between Life Matters Media and the City of Chicago. It is now in its third year. At each of Chicago’s 23 municipal senior centers, founders Randi Belisomo and Mary Mulcahy, sometimes accompanied by other end of life care experts, help seniors consider their own end of life care preferences and provide them next-step resources.[30]

They survey attendees about their personal considerations of end of life care; this data, alongside the social demography of each senior center’s surrounding neighborhood, is compiled regularly in partnership with Northwestern University’s Buehler Center on Aging, Health and Society with the hope of obtaining a unique and comprehensive landscape of the state of end of life care decision-making in Chicago.[31]

The organization also hosts events for people of all ages and stages of life. Their original programming has focused on religion and end of life care, digital document storage and caregiving.[32]

In 2018, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel issued a proclamation on behalf of Life Matters Media urging city residents to make their future health care wishes known on April 16, National Health Care Decisions Day.[33]

Interfaith panel

Six Chicago-area faith leaders addressed the importance of end of life decision-making and discussed how their respective beliefs, rituals and traditions impact the process during a March 2015 event at Northwestern University.[34][35] Orthodox, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, Protestant and Roman Catholic perspectives were represented during the panel, hosted by Life Matters Media in collaboration with the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago.[36]

"Death Over Dinner"

In 2014, Life Matters Media hosted Chicago's first-ever "Death over Dinner," a movement aiming to launch a "patient-led revolution at the dinner table" by encouraging frank discussion about death and dying.[37][38][39] It grew to welcome the largest attendance known to the "Death Over Dinner" movement since its founding. Chicago Tribune columnist Barbara Brotman gave the event a glowing review, writing "there is no reason this subject can’t be dealt with openly and in convivial surroundings."[40]

The organization held its latest "Death over Dinner" in September 2015 in La Grange, Illinois.

References
  1. "Two Web Sites to Visit". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  2. "Life Matters Media". Chicago Tonight | WTTW. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  3. "Preparing for the digital afterlife". WGN-TV. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  4. "Chicago members learn about changing end-of-life conversations". Association of Health Care Journalists. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  5. "Reporter, Northwestern Doctor Launch Website About Facing Terminal Illness". CBS Chicago. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  6. "Winning the battle in the universal language of dying". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  7. "New site offers safe place to talk about death". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2015-10-12.
  8. "Two Web Sites to Visit". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  9. ""The Art of Dying" and a good death". www.jsonline.com. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  10. "Obamacare Rolls Out Hospice Care Penalties And Quality Focus". Forbes. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  11. "Media Coverage Archives - Life Matters Media". Life Matters Media. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  12. "Season 2 Episode 16: Randi Belisomo, Life Matters Media - Death By Design, End Of Life Planning, Pallative, Hospice". Death By Design, End Of Life Planning, Pallative, Hospice. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  13. "Winning the battle in the universal language of dying". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  14. "Talking about death". Rivet. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  15. "Newswire Archives – Life Matters Media". Life Matters Media. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  16. "Learning to Talk About Death". Chicago Tonight | WTTW. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  17. "Final Wishes: Northwestern Magazine - Northwestern University". www.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  18. "Statement from the President on the Passing of Carlos Hernandez Gomez". whitehouse.gov. Archived from the original on 2016-11-09. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  19. "Journalist and doctor encourage honest conversations about death". www.wbez.org. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  20. "LMM President Randi Belisomo: "America Is Ready To Talk About Death" - Life Matters Media". Life Matters Media. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  21. "WGN's Randi Belisomo Helps Launch Website About Preparing for Death". DNAinfo Chicago. Archived from the original on 2014-06-22. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  22. "The Final Frontier: Entrepreneurs Move Into End of Life Planning". KQED Future of You. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  23. "Chicago members learn about changing end-of-life conversations". Association of Health Care Journalists. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  24. "Newswire Archives - Life Matters Media". Life Matters Media. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  25. "Experts Archives - Life Matters Media". Life Matters Media. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  26. "Week 27/2015 in the Death with Dignity Movement - Death With Dignity". Death With Dignity. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  27. "Catholic Conference of Illinois Radio Hour - Life Matters Media". Life Matters Media. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  28. "Vision/Mission - Life Matters Media". Life Matters Media. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  29. [email protected], JEFFREY ZAMPANTI. "Kenosha's Gaitan to be featured on CNBC". Kenosha News. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  30. "Starting the Conversation". Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  31. "Advance care planning among seniors of a diverse city". Journal of Clinical Oncology. ISSN 0732-183X.
  32. "Death and beer: Chicagoans explore the digital afterlife over a pint". WGN-TV. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  33. "Mayor Emanuel Starts the Conversation in Chicago, Urging Expression of End of Life Care Plans - Life Matters Media". Life Matters Media. 2018-04-14. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  34. "Interfaith Panel Explores End Of Life Care Beliefs - Life Matters Media". Life Matters Media. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  35. "Morning Shift: New U of C report dissects discipline practices in Chicago schools". www.wbez.org. Archived from the original on 2015-11-03. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  36. "Past Events". Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  37. "Belisomo: 'Death Over Dinner'". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  38. "Death Over Dinner - Let's Have Dinner and Talk About Death". Let's Have Dinner and Talk About Death. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  39. "Let's Talk About Death Over Dinner". NPR.org. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  40. "Eat, drink, be merry and talk about death". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
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