Amanda Carr RN BSN and founder of Changing the Face of Dying, worked for 10 years in hospitals and emergency rooms across the country.  She is now pursuing her passion which is educating people and their families about available choices regarding end of life, how to make those choices, and how to communicate them.
 
She works with people to openly talk about death and plan ahead for the inevitable. For your death to be “as you want it to be”, you need to plan and communicate that plan to your family.  She promotes the use of advance directives and councils people through the paperwork and making the choice of who will make the decisions when they cannot.   She also now works with people near the end of life and in hospice care to help make their remaining time the best it can be.
 
Amanda mentioned that she runs Death Café at the VNA offices in South Portland, every second Tuesday of the month from 6:30-8PM.  The Death Cafe concept, originated in London by a sociologist, gives folks a chance to talk about death and dying in an open forum where it is safe to talk about this subject. For more information and a complete list in your area: http://deathcafe.com .
 
She is also interested in changing the face of eldercare.   “Virtual nursing home” through VNA brings technologies into the home to supplement caregivers and allow people to stay in their home longer.
 
To read more about Amanda and her work, visit: http://changingthefaceofdying.com