Pinnacle Perspectives, Spring 2024

There’s a New Conversation Guide for Dementia—

Created at Dartmouth

When Charlotte Berry’s mother was diagnosed with dementia, the thenDartmouth College undergraduate student sought support from someone who understood the disease: Robert Santulli, MD, a senior lecturer in Dartmouth’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and an honorary associate professor of psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Now a medical student and Swigart Ethics Fellow at Geisel, Berry ’25 (D ’19) has developed a new conversation guide for dementia care to facilitate advance health directive care planning and improve communication between providers and those affected by dementia.

Drawing on her family’s experiences, Berry thought patients and families would benefit from goal-oriented conversations about care with clinicians. “In retrospect, I think this

was a pathway for me to address some of the challenges my family faced as my mother’s dementia progressed,” Berry says.

Berry first examined the Serious Illness Conversation Guide (SICG), an evidence-based tool designed for clinicians approaching such dialogues with patients and families. The SICG had not been adapted to address the unique needs of dementia patients. Berry took on that project, collaborating with Santulli and Amelia Cullinan, MD, an associate professor of medicine and a member of the Dartmouth Health palliative care team, and consulting with relevant experts, patients, and their families.

Her work resulted in the Serious Illness Conversation Guide for Dementia (SICG-D), and she is lead author on a paper published in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care

IN THIS ISSUE: A New Conversation Guide for Dementia A Lasting Legacy

You’re Invited: 2024 Pinnacle Society Luncheon

While maintaining the same general format of the original SICG, the SICG-D’s key adaptations allow for better incorporation of the patientcaregiver partnership, while also providing clinicians with dementiaspecific language.

“As someone who went through this with my family, you can feel a little lost,” Berry says. “But I think conversations in the guide about hopes, fears, and worries—in the context of clinical care are important even if they do not necessarily change the outcome.” 

Written by Susan Green for Geisel News

Palliative care physician Amelia Cullinan, MD, (left) and oncologist Garrett Wasp, MD, speak with a patient at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.

Camilla Guthrie Berry (left) and Charlotte Elizabeth Berry ’25 (D ’19), shared their last Mother’s Day together on May 10, 2020.

(Photo by Christopher Gabriel Banks)

A Lasting Legacy

Do you want to support causes you care about while maintaining control of your finances? Planned giving may be the perfect option for you! Many planned gifts offer unique benefits, ensuring both your personal and philanthropic goals are met.

One popular planned gift option is a bequest through a will or trust. This simple yet impactful way to give allows you to leave a portion of your estate to a chosen charity, such as Dartmouth Health or the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, ensuring a lasting legacy. A bequest costs you nothing today and can be tailored to your personal and financial wishes.

Another planned gift option, called charitable gift annuities, or CGAs, provide you or a loved one with income for life in exchange for a gift to a charitable organization. CGAs can qualify you for a variety of tax

benefits, including tax deductions or reducing capital gains taxes.

One of the easiest ways to make a planned gift is by naming a charity as a beneficiary of certain assets such as individual retirement accounts, life insurance policies, checking and savings accounts, brokerage accounts, and commercial annuities. You can specify all or a percentage of the assets you want each beneficiary to receive and, often, it's as easy as filling out a form.

A simple yet impactful way to give.

Regardless of your personal situation, planned gifts are a great way to protect you and your loved ones’ financial security while guaranteeing your future legacy. 

Save the date for the annual Pinnacle

In the News

An impressive 3,100 participants along with volunteers, sponsors, and donors raised over $790,000 for Dartmouth Health Children’s and the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD) at the 18th annual CHaD HERO. This community event funds critical child and family support services, helping all children lead their healthiest, happiest lives.

Save the date for next year’s CHaD HERO: October 20, 2024.

A Gift in Your Will

A gift in your will that supports the work of Dartmouth Health and/or Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth should be directed to:

One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH 03756

Tax ID# 26-4812335 (for Dartmouth Health) and Tax ID# 02-0222111 (for Geisel).

Sample language:

“I hereby, give, devise, and bequeath to , One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon NH 03756, tax ID # the following sum [state the amount of the gift or asset(s)], or percent ( %) of my residuary estate, whichever is less, to this purpose: .”

For more information about tax-wise giving, please contact Katherine D. Blackman, Director of Planned Giving. Email DH.Geisel.Planned.Giving@dartmouth.edu, or phone at 603-646-5858. You can also visit DHGeiselPlannedGiving.org. All inquiries are confidential.

Dartmouth Health has received a $2.5 million gift from generous donors and former Dartmouth-Hitchcock Trustee Barbara Couch and her husband, Dick Couch D ’64, Thayer ’65, to establish the Couch Endowed Fund for Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellowships at Dartmouth Cancer Center. The fund will support the recruitment and retention of cancer clinician-scientists from under-represented groups in medicine—particularly those exploring health disparities and healthcare inequities.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD, and his seven living predecessors joined in a rare panel at Dartmouth to discuss the future of mental health and wellness. The historic event, hosted in partnership with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, the C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth, and Dartmouth Health focused on the importance of community and connection.

Radiation Oncology at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth has been elevated to full department status. The new department, named the Department of Radiation Oncology and Applied Sciences, will raise the visibility of programs, drive technical innovation, attract research dollars, and improve treatment outcomes for cancer patients and their families.