PROFILE: Death as a Part of Life
Practically Dying is an end-of-life educational and support resource whose mission is to help people remember how to engage birth, life and death as opportunities to live without hesitation and die without regret. Kim Mooney founded the organization using her twenty-six years with hospice, crisis intervention experience, and bereavement program development as a groundwork.
Project Summary: Practically Dying’s offerings create opportunities for people to engage death as part of life, beginning at their comfort level. Through Death Cafes, a KGNU community radio series, and a local TV show, people can touch lightly on sensitive topics. They co-founded Conversations on Death, which organized an annual conference featuring sessions on spirituality and death, shamanic practices, death traditions around the world, what happens to the brain during dying, and the body in grief.
Community presentations and workshops range from advance care planning, introduction to the Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (MOST) form and Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) presentations to the public and medical providers, to caregiver support, grief support and writing obituaries with flair. They offer different perspectives to engage and empower people to develop practical strategies for self-determination built upon their principles and values.
Benefit to Colorado: People need many avenues to begin to think, then speak, then plan for the end of life. Practically Dying works to provide resources for each person wherever they choose to begin. Through personal consultations, they help Coloradans navigate the journey from advanced illness to dying through death and bereavement.
Practically Dying is a member of CIVHC’s Advance Care Planning Workgroup. Please email info@civhc.org if you’d like more information about our workgroups.