Living with Dignity: Exploring Palliative Care on Rhode Island PBS

Living with Dignity takes an intimate look at how palliative care is helping one Rhode Island man live with dignity after the blow of a serious diagnosis. Produced by Rhode Island PBS, Living with Dignity airs Monday, June 1 at 9 p.m.

Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. A specially-trained team of doctors, nurses and other specialists work together with a patient’s other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. Palliative care is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness and can be provided along with curative treatment. The goal of palliative care is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.

In-studio conversations with local professionals from The Miriam Hospital, Home and Hospice Care of Rhode Island, and Visiting Nurse Home Care (formerly Visiting Nurse Service of Greater Rhode Island) are interwoven with the pre-taped personal story segments. Throughout, doctors, nurses, therapists, and social workers reveal how they formulate a plan to ward off side effects of treatments and deal with symptoms, allowing patients to live more comfortably and at home.

• Doctors stress that they continue to search for the cure while working alongside the patients, attempting to improve their quality of life.
• Nurses share why it’s important for patients to remain in their own home: patients stay healthier, have less frequent visits to Emergency Room, have less chance of acquiring “new germs” that could compromise a weakened immune system – and patients are just happier at home.
• Therapists talk about the day to day visits, the struggles, the challenges, the victories.

“Personal stories like this one connect each of us,” said David W. Piccerelli, president of WSBE Rhode Island PBS. “We’re pleased to make these unifying connections in the community, and to advance awareness and understanding through our series of health education specials this past year.”

Part of SCREENINGS | community conversations about cancer, an initiative of Rhode Island PBS and the American Cancer Society, Living with Dignity is made possible by CVS Health. For more information about the organizations featured in the program, visit ripbs.org.

WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) content over the air on digital 36.1; on Rhode Island cable services: Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, Full Channel 08; on Massachusetts cable services: Comcast 819HD, Verizon 18 / 518HD; on satellite:  DirecTV 36 / 3128HD, Dish Network 36.