Eastern Michigan University's Aging Studies Program is having a special program Wednesday October 28th featuring a lecture by Dr. Adam Marks, Clinical assistant professor in the division of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the University of Michigan.
He will be speaking on how Americans deal with death, and how that has changed over the past 100 years.Americans are living an average 30 years longer today than they did in the last century.
Advances in medicine have allowed us to be able to live longer with disease and this changes the way we think about health care and the treatment we receive at the end of life.
When you ask Americans in their final months, Dr. Marks says they want de-escalation of medical care and would rather be at home with family members and comfortable.
He says we want this time to be meaningful, and the majority of Americans are still experiencing an escalation of care at the end of life and as consumers become more educated they are deciding that is not what they want. Dr. Marks advocates advance care planning and having conversations ahead of time, and how we want- end of life care- to look like.
He believes people make a better informed decision when they have conversation ahead of time, Dr. Marks says the decisions change, when people are empowered with the information they need to deal with end of life care.
Dr. Adam Marks will be speaking at McKenny Ballroom on EMU'S campus beginning at 4pm Wednesday October 28th. The event is free and open to the public.
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— Lisa Barry is a reporter, and host of All Things Considered on 89.1 WEMU. Contact her at 734.487.3363, on twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her lbarryma@emich.edu
