I hope you all can join us June 12 for our Conversation of Your Life (“COYL”) Breakfast, which will highlight the innovative efforts taking place in New Jersey communities to change the culture around end-of-life care discussions. Leaders in our COYL program will talk about the truly interesting ways they are facilitating these conversations.

Here are just a few examples:

• Burlington County Freeholder Linda Hughes kicked off county activities by signing her own “Five Wishes” for her end-of-life care at a public freeholder meeting.
• In Mercer County, author Ellen Rand spoke about her book “Last Comforts” at the Hopewell Borough Town Hall, and at the Hamilton Senior Center.
• The Camden County Surrogate gives regular talks on advance care planning at senior centers as well as police and fire stations.

Our keynote speaker is the author Dr. Pauline Chen, who will speak from a physician’s perspective. You can read our poignant interview with Dr. Chen in this issue of Symptoms & Cures. This is a topic that touches every element of health care and to improve we’ll need efforts from every corner. We’ll need technology solutions. We’ll need the state and other payers to reimburse for providers to have these tough conversations with their patients.

At our breakfast, you’ll also hear from our new state health commissioner, Shereef M. Elnahal, M.D., M.B.A. And also we want to hear from you, our members — many of you on the front lines of health care — to share your ideas on how to improve end-of-life care in New Jersey.  You can register for our breakfast here.