Concern for Dying - Vol.10 No.2 - Spring 1984

Sep 29, 2026

Concern for Dying educational council newsletter content highlights leadership training and interdisciplinary collaboration on ethically challenging end-of-life care, focusing on contemporary treatment decisions for the terminally ill. It features accounts of professional education activities and advocates for individual autonomy, including experiences and perspectives related to enforced treatment. The issue also reports national patient-rights progress, especially surrounding living wills, and describes volunteer efforts across multiple states to promote patient-centered advance directives and informed public attitudes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Concern for Dying - educational council

Concern's 5th Annual Collab Conference Explores Ethical Issues

Recent Events Indicate That Patients' Rights Are Being Seriously Addressed Nationwide

Volunteer Activities n 3 States Help the Patients' Rights Movement

It is never the same.That has been the oneconsistent characteristic over the yearswhen 40 students of law,medicine,nursingand social work gather from across thecountry to attend Concern's remarkablyintense three days of information,conten-tion and mutual respect,the LeadershipTraining Weekend. Predictably unpredictable,this year'sProfessional Student Interdisciplinary Col-laboration on Death and Dying,held March30 through April 2 at the Warwick(NY)Conference Center,was somewhat moreintellectualized than any one given TrainingWeekend,somewhat more diversified incontent than another—in short,a uniquemeeting of various backgrounds,aspira-tions and sensibilities. Whether the participant was a registerednurse now enrolled in law school,or anexperienced teacher now going into socialwork,or any other of the singularly indi-vidual individuals who participated,thefocus was shared:these people were thereto deal with the tough issues raised by con-temporary treatment techniques and proce-dures,especially in the care of the termi-nally ill. Dax Cowart,who brought the story ofhis own enforced treatment for third-degreeburns to last year's Collab,proved againthis year to be a quietly effective advocateof individual autonomy.After his formalpresentation,Cowart generously spent timein follow-up sessions and casual conversa-tions helping participants understand hiscomplex message—that,even though hislife is fulfilling today,he believes that heshould have been allowed to die rather thanendure painful treatment that he tried torefuse. No less riveting were appearances at theFifth Annual Training Weekend by NancyDubler,Director,Division of Legal andEthical Issues in Health Care,Departmentof Social Medicine,Montefiore MedicalCenter,Bronx,NY;James Childress,Com-monwealth Professor of Religious Studiesand Professor of Medical Education,Uni-versity of Virginia,and Dr.William (continued on page 4) CONCERN FOR DYING an educational council Vol.10 No.2-Spring 1984 # Concern's 5th Annual Collab Conference Explores Ethical Issues Not so long ago,snow still covered the hills of upstate New York,where 40 dedicated young people werein retreat to come to grips with difficult problems in medical treatment.Story at left. # Recent Events Indicate That Patients'RightsAre Being Seriously Addressed Nationwide Significant gains in the patients'rightsmovement have been reported with increas-ing frequency in the past few weeks.Threeexamples should be of particular interest toConcermn supporters: Unanimously,the Advisory Councilon Social Security has endorsed the conceptof Living Wills,even though,as ChairmanOtis Bowen pointed out,"The council fullyrecognizes that this may be a controversialrecommendation."Testifying to the SenateFinance Committee,Bowen stressed thatany decision to forego treatment should be"totally voluntary"but that people who areterminally ill have the right to have theirLiving Wills honored to “prevent unneces-sarily heroic measures being taken in theterminal days of life."The council,anadvisory panel on Medicare,noted that 11per cent of Medicare spending occurs in thelast 40 days of a patient's life and that the last year of life accounts for 25 per cent ofall Medicare spending. ● In a landmark article in The NewEngland Journal of Medicine that gainedimmediate national attention,a prestigiouscommittee of physicians representing hos-pitals and medical schools across the coun-try emphatically supported the concept that“when the severely demented patient haspreviously made his or her wishes knownand when there is intercurrent illness,it isethically permissible for the physician towithhold treatment that would serve mainlyto prolong the dyingprocess."In addition,they felt that,if a severely and irreversiblydemented patient rejects food and water bymouth,"it is ethically permissible to with-hold nutrition and hydration artificiallyadministered by vein or gastric tube."Thearticle,"The Physician's Responsibility(continued on pa

FAQs

What is the focus of Concern's Leadership Training Weekend mentioned in the issue?

It centers on tough ethical issues raised by contemporary treatment techniques and procedures, especially care for the terminally ill.

How does the issue describe Dax Cowart's advocacy related to autonomy at end of life?

Cowart is presented as an effective advocate for individual autonomy, emphasizing that he believed he should have been allowed to die rather than endure painful treatment he tried to refuse.

What does the newsletter say patients' rights advocates were reporting nationally in the patients' rights movement?

It highlights significant gains involving living wills, including endorsements and ethically grounded support for honoring patients' wishes regarding withholding or refusing treatment and related interventions.

Sep 29, 2026

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