National and State Leaders Celebrate Accomplishments of Aging with Dignity at 10th Anniversary Celebration

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and First Lady Columba Bush were joined by U.S. Assistant Secretary for Aging Josefina Carbonell, several Florida agency heads, and former Florida First Lady Rhea Chiles in honoring the accomplishments of the Florida-based national nonprofit organization Aging with Dignity at a special 10th Anniversary luncheon today.

Aging with Dignity is best known for creating the Five Wishes document, which is now the most popular advance directive in America. Five Wishes is easy to use and understand, and allows people to make important decisions before a health crisis by facilitating communication among families, patients, and health care providers.

"We are grateful for the opportunity to bring our message of compassion and dignity to those who are sick or disabled," Aging with Dignity President Paul Malley said. "It has been incredible to see our small grassroots organization touch the lives of more than 7 million Americans in less than a decade."

Gov. Bush was among those who offered remarks at today's celebration. "I am proud that the work that Aging with Dignity began in Florida is now a national model," Gov. Bush said. "The success of Five Wishes shows that people want to talk about care at the end of life in terms that are meaningful and relatable."

Five Wishes is the first advance directive to address important personal, emotional, and spiritual issues, in addition to healthcare decisions. Five Wishes was introduced in Florida in 1997 and quickly drew national attention. With the help of the American Bar Association's Commission on Law and Aging and leading medical experts, the national version of Five Wishes was introduced in 1998. Today, Five Wishes meets the legal requirements for an advance directive in 38 states and can be used everywhere as a helpful guide.

On the occasion of its 10th Anniversary, Aging with Dignity announced a new initiative to reach underserved ethnic minorities, through a project supported by the Evercare Hospice Foundation. The foundation's support provides for the translation of Five Wishes into 20 languages and the distribution of 100,000 translated documents through cultural groups. These newly translated resources will facilitate family conversations and help people make decisions in advance of a health crisis through documents that are understandable and culturally appropriate. In partnership with the American Hospital Association and National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, hospitals and hospices across America will soon have access to these new resources.

Expected translations include: Chinese traditional, Chinese simplified, Arabic, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Somali, Hmong, Korean, French, Polish, Russian, Vietnamese, Albanian, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Spanish, Japanese, Gujarati, and Croatian.

"This initiative furthers Aging with Dignity's mission to reach the poor and underserved," Malley remarked. "It allows for broad distribution of the translated Five Wishes documents in America, as well as possible international usage."

The newly translated resources will also be provided locally by Aging with Dignity's national network of more than 10,000 distributor organizations. These groups include: 1,681 places of worship, 746 hospitals, 415 law firms, 286 nursing homes, 278 universities and colleges, and 136 hospices, among others.

At today's event Aging with Dignity recognized two groups of organizations that have taken leading roles in helping people make important decisions before a serious illness.

2006 National Innovators

Seven organizations earned the distinction of "National Innovator." These seven groups alone have put Five Wishes into the hands of more than 1.25 million people. Their outreach efforts are highlighted as national best practices.

  * Community Hospice of Northeast Florida (Jacksonville, FL)
  * Exempla Healthcare (Denver, CO)
  * Heartland Home Health & Hospice (Toledo, OH)
  * Munson Healthcare (Traverse City, MI)
  * SCAN Healthplan (Long Beach, CA)
  * Healthways (Nashville, TN)
  * Long Beach Memorial Medical Center & Miller Children's Hospital (Long
    Beach, CA)

  2006 Florida Pacesetters

Aging with Dignity also introduced a new state-by-state designation of organizations that have made exceptional efforts to promote advance care planning within their communities. It announced today the first group of Pacesetters from its home state of Florida. Pacesetters in additional states will be named in the coming months. The 2006 Florida Pacesetters are:

  * Hospice of Palm Beach County (West Palm Beach)
  * VITAS Innovative Hospice Care (Miami)
  * Hospice of Marion County (Ocala)
  * Hospice of Lake & Sumter, Cornerstone Hospice (Tavares)
  * Covenant Hospice (Pensacola)
  * The Hospice of Volusia/Flagler (Port Orange)
  * AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Positive Healthcare (Ft. Lauderdale)
  * Hospice of Citrus County (Beverly Hills)
  * Haven Hospice (Gainesville)
  * Hospice of the Comforter (Altamonte Springs)

Additional projects of Aging with Dignity were also featured. My Wishes is a new pediatric version of Five Wishes, designed to help seriously ill children have important conversations with their parents, caregivers, and healthcare providers. Hope Today is a new pilot project in two North Florida counties that seeks to locate and care for seniors living alone, who often feel unloved and forgotten by society. It seeks to build a network of volunteers to help restore the human dignity that may have been lost.

"As we reach this 10th anniversary milestone, we celebrate our success while recognizing that there is much work to be done," Malley said. "With programs like Five Wishes and the newly translated documents, My Wishes, and Hope Today, we will carry on with our mission to bring dignity and compassion to the most vulnerable among us."

Aging with Dignity is a private, nonprofit organization that was founded by Jim Towey in 1996. Mr. Towey is the former legal counsel to Mother Teresa of Calcutta who headed Florida's social services agency. In 10 years it has grown to become America's leading advocate for dignified care of the elderly and disabled. Information about Five Wishes and other programs offered by Aging with Dignity may be found at http://www.agingwithdignity.org/.