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Community
Spring 2018
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Making the Most of Life – and Death “Death Café”: Hempstead seniors and Hofstra public health students spent an evening discussing end-of-life issues. Residents at the General MacArthur Senior Village in Hempstead recently spent an evening with Hofstra public health students, sharing coffee, cake, and candid conversation about mortality and end-of-life issues. Senior citizens rotated through several stations manned by the students, where they learned how to set up a health care proxy and create ethical wills in which they can share their values and life lessons with family and friends. They also played card games that explored ideas such as how they’d like to be remembered, and considered what they still wanted to accomplish in their lifetime. “Our goal is to remove the stigma of talking about death while having good food and good conversation,” said student Tanzim Bhuiya, who will begin medical school next year. “This has shown me that health is not just about curing someone; it’s about talking to people and hearing what they have to say, their hopes and fears.” At Bhuiya’s station, Regis Thompson, 73, wrote her bucket list goal – to take a sculpting class – on a yellow Post-It note. She stuck it to a board bearing the aspirations of others in the room,
everything from seeing the Northern Lights and traveling to Africa to sky diving and being a contestant on the TV cooking show Chopped. Seniors need to be open to conversations about death and dying, Thompson said, adding that she has had many talks with her family about how she would like them to handle her passing. “I want them to be prepared; I don’t want to leave a hardship for them. Sure they will mourn and be sad, but they will have good memories of what I did and how I lived my life.” The evening was modeled after a popular international movement called Death Café, which has held more than 5,000 similar events in 52 countries. Public health professor Martine Hackett, PhD, was interested in organizing the event with the seniors at General MacArthur, part of the Village of Hempstead Housing Authority, when she learned that about twice as many blacks and Hispanics in Nassau County die prematurely (before age 75), compared with whites. “I wanted my students to know that they can connect with people and help them have better health outcomes,” she said.
Table of Contents Campus and Community News ...................................... 1-4 Events ............................................................................... 5-6 Lectures and Readings....................................................... 7 Theater, Dance, and Music ............................................ 8-9 Hofstra University Museum ..........................................10-11
Community Services and Programs...............................................................12-14 Festival and Tours ...............................................................14 Hofstra Athletics ................................................................15 Cultural Center Events ...................................... Back Cover