2010 End of Life Conference

Beliefs and Barriers: Religion and Decision Making at the End of Life

Sponsored by the Religion and Public Health Collaborative and the Center for Ethics

February 8, 2010
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Candler School of Theology, Room 252

Registration is closed for the conference.

Understanding religion's role in end-of-life decision-making has taken on new urgency lately. In the midst of the political noise about the advance directives in the recent health care reform debate, there is unsettling new research showing that highly religious individuals are the least likely to have signed living wills, or to have appointed a health care proxy. At the same time, other research shows that religiously observant elderly persons in their last year of life have a higher quality of life in several social and psychological domains compared with those who are not observant. In this conference we review current research in the light of the major faith traditions and from the perspective of religious communities, to explore the context of such consequential beliefs.

AGENDA

8:30 - 9:00 Registration and Continental Breakfast (CST Room 250)

9:00 - 9:15 Welcome and Opening Remarks - Paul Root Wolpe and Ellen Idler

9:15 - 10:45 Keynote Panel I: New Research on Religion, Spirituality, Quality of Life, and the End of Life

Andrea Phelps, MD, Harvard University, and Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Tracy Balboni, MD, Harvard University, and Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Ellen Idler, PhD, Emory University

10:45 - 11:00 Break

11:00 - 12:00 Interfaith Response Panel for Keynote Panel I - Theological Responses to the New Research

Speakers representing Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Protestant, Roman Catholic faith traditions

12:00 - 1:15 Lunch Discussion: Perspectives from the Stakeholders (Center for Ethics Room 102)

Stakeholders include: Chaplaincy, Congregations, Ethics, Families, Gerontology, Health Care Systems, Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, Theology

1:15 - 2:30 Reporting Panel: Perspectives from the Stakeholders

2:30 - 2:45 Break

2:45 - 3:15 Keynote II: Engaging Religious Communities

Myra Christopher, Center for Practical Bioethics, Kansas City, MO

3:15-3:45 Response Panel for Keynote Panel II: Engaging Religious Communities

3:45 - 4:15 Open Discussion with Keynote Speakers and Panel Members

4:15 Closing Remarks