Join BJ Miller, Mettle Health founder, palliative care and hospice physician and author, and Patricia Liu, Speech-language pathologist, for an informal and interactive conversation on communicating around serious illness, both for the purposes of planning for care, but also the logistics of communication.
Communication is at the heart of everything when it comes to navigating an illness. Talking and listening to doctors about treatment options, communicating with family and friends about choices to make, saying the things that matter most. On top of this, there’s the logistics of physically speaking: what if someone has recently had a stroke, or has an illness that is making speech more and more difficult. How can families learn to communicate in these situations in order to ensure care preferences are honored?
All online discussions begins with a basic overview of the day’s topic before opening up to the group for Q&A and conversation. This session should feel as supportive as it does educational, so bring your questions and comments, or feel free to just listen. Together, we’ll explore real life examples and address your questions on the topic.
Discussions are held online and once registered, you will receive a link via email to join on video or by phone.
If you can't make it to the live session you will receive a recording.
Patricia Liu is a speech-language pathologist who specializes in assessing and treating swallowing, speech and language disorders. She also specializes in cognitive-communication disorders that result from stroke, traumatic brain injury or a neurological condition such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also called ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease).
Liu's particular interests include addressing communication challenges for people with severe speech and motor impairments through augmentative and alternative communication methods, which may be used to enhance speech and writing or as substitutions.
Dr. BJ Miller is a longtime hospice and palliative medicine physician and educator. He’s been on faculty at his alma mater, UCSF, since 2007 and has worked in all settings of care: hospital, clinic, residential facility, and home. Led by his own experiences as a patient, BJ advocates for the roles of our senses, community and presence in designing a better ending. He speaks nationally, and internationally, on the topics of death, dying, palliative care and the intersection of healthcare with design.
His 2015 TED Talk: “Not Whether, But How”, has been viewed over 11 million times and his work has also been the subject of multiple interviews and podcasts, including Oprah Winfrey, PBS, The New York Times, The California Sunday Magazine, GOOP, Krista Tippett, Tim Ferriss and the TED Radio Hour. His book, A Beginner’s Guide to the End, was co-authored with Shoshana Berger and published in 2019.
