Understanding Palliative Care

Wit

Film Topics: Dr-Pt Relationship, Roles of Nurses, Pt Experience at EOL
Description: University professor Vivian Bearing's life is devastated by ovarian cancer. The audience experiences the doctor-patient relationship and the challenges encountered at the end of life through Vivian's eyes.

The Sea Inside

Film Topics: Euthanasia, Living with Chronic Severe Disability
Description: Based on the true story of Ramon Sampedro, this film tells of his 30 year battle to win the right to end his life. The film is is a beautiful exploration of the beauty and mystery of life. It handles a challenging issue masterfully.

Big Fish

Film Topics: Stories at the EOL, Illness Experience
Description: Film about stories and death of main character's father.

Iris

Film Topics: Alzheimer's, Caregiver Role, Illness Trajectories
Description: The film is about Iris Murdoch, eccentric professor & writer, as she and her husband John struggle with her diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

The Doctor

Film Topics: When the doctor is a patient, Dr-Pt Relationship
Description: Doctor becomes cancer patient and the insights that come with this change of role.

Philadelphia

Film Topics: EOL Issues, Stigma at the EOL
Description:Tom Hanks stars as an attorney diagnosed with AIDS, dealing with political and personal tragedies.

Murder or Mercy

Film Topics: PAS/CAS, Murder, Withholding/Withdrwing
Description:Documentary five families of terminally ill patients and how they deal with the decision to facilitate death of a loved one or extend life at any cost.

My Life Without Me

Film Topics: Social Disparities, Legacy Building, Risk & Benefit of EOL
Description:Young woman of lower socioeconomic status is diagnosed with cancer and has only weeks to live.

Terri Schiavo Documentary/Southpark

Film Topics: Artificial Nutrition, Role of Surrogates, Advance Directives, Religious Beliefs
Description:Documentary about the landmark ethics case of Terri Schiavo, concerning fight over ethics of removing PEG tube, followed by lighthearted black comedy version of events.

Steel Magnolias

Film Topics: Loss , Death from chronic illness ,Dying young
Description: Film follows the lives of 6 women who regular visit a beauty shop, one of whom has severe diabetes and touches on EOL issues related to this.

Terms of Endearment

Film Topics: Loss, Pain Issues, Dying Young
Description: Mother-daughter relationship challenged by daughter's terminal illness.

John Q

Film Topics: Inequalities, Ethics at EOL
Description: Father of young boy who needs a transplant but has no insurance resorts to desperate measures.

Six Feet Under

Film Topics: Grief, Mourning, Different Cultural Approaches to Death
Description: HBO series about family who own a funeral parlor. Lots of social commentary and exploration of how American society handles death.

My Life

Film Topics: Challenges of EOL, Unexpected, Life & Death
Description: Michael Keaton turns in a superb performance as the career man who is struck down by terminal cancer while his wife is expecting their first child.

On Golden Pond

Film Topics: Aging, Family Dynamics, EOL
Description:

A River Runs Through It

Film Topics: Self-Reflection and Self-Care
Description: Robert Redford in film about a Montana family's life journey with lots of reflection on life, loss and love.

And the Band Played On

Film Topics: EOL Issues, Stigma at the EOL
Description: Emergence of the HIV epidemic and the stories of those effected.

One True Thing

Film Topics: Caregiver Stress, EOL Issues, Family Dynamics
Description: One women's struggle with cancer and a family's quest to achieve balance and understanding amidst suffering and confusion.

Tuesdays with Morrie

Film Topics: EOL Lessons, Relationships at EOL, Story Telling
Description: University football coach gives life lessons to ex-student (now a sports writer) as he, Morrie, dies from ALS.

Brokeback Mountain

Film Topics: Loss, Grief, Life Lessons
Description: Life journey of two men which culminates in one of their deaths.

My Left Foot

Film Topics: QOL Issues
Description: Story of young man with catastrophic neurological impairment but zest for life.

The Notebook

Film Topics: Caregiver Issues, Dementia
Description: A love story-retrospective narrative in which a man tries to help his wife who has dementia recall her life and relationships with others.

The Interpreter

Film Topics: Grief and Bereavement
Description: A CIA agent, Sean Penn, and a interpreter, Nicole Kidman, paths cross and share experiences of losing someone they loved in traumatic circumstances.

Sweet November

Film Topics: Coping with a Terminal Illness, Loss, Grief
Description: Each month free-spirited Sara Deever starts a new relationship. Her task is to take a month to make one man become a better person, and then she moves on. When November rolls around and Sara targets the busy tycoon, Nelson Moss, she does not plan on falling in love. But they do, and as a result, Nelson learns the painful secret behind the brevity of Sara's romances.