Table Talk: LGBTQ+ Values, Wishes & Plans at End of Life
Table Talk, a series created by and for people of color, LGBTQ+, and other underrepresented communities, is an honest, lively, and unscripted conversation among health professionals, spiritual and faith-based leaders, artists, and other creative individuals to address this central question: What does it mean to live and die well in our respective communities?
In this Table Talk, LGBTQ+ senior advocate Jacqueline Boyd and end-of-life doula/artist Marne Lucas guide us in best practices to honor end-of-life values and fulfill wishes for those who self-identify as LGBTQ+. How can we offer support through conversation and action? What resources are available? What legal documents must be prepared? How can we ensure that our biological families and our families of choice support our plans?
Speakers
Jacqueline Boyd (she/her) is a passionate LGBTQ+ advocate with over 15 years of expertise in senior care. She built the country's premier LGBTQ+ centered care management company. The Care Plan’s ground-breaking model of client-directed care provides advocacy, care navigation and advance planning for successful aging experiences. Simultaneously, the company supplies training, strategic planning and infrastructural support to nonprofits, businesses and community groups across the US. At the helm of The Care Plan’s leadership, Jacqueline has consulted with national and local organizations such as SAGE, Diverse Elders Coalition, and AIDS Foundation Chicago to enhance services offered to LGBTQ+ older adults. She is a sought after speaker and author providing business leadership through presentations at the American Society on Aging National Conference, Creating Change Conference, the Los Angeles County Older Adult Summit, and University of Chicago among others. She recently contributed a chapter to Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Health and Aging, available from Springer Publishing and authored the guide Create Your Care Plan: An LGBT Person’s Guide To Preparing For Medical Procedures. Currently Jacqueline serves as the co-chair of One Roof Chicago, an intergenerational LGBTQ+ focused housing project. She is on the advisory council of Pride Action Tank and co-founder of Project Fierce Chicago. www.the-care-plan.com
Marne Lucas (she/her/they) is a multidisciplinary artist and end of life doula based in Harlem, New York whose practice spans photography, video, and collaboration. Lucas works at the intersection of art and health, using conceptual overlaps: life’s energy, intimacy, the body, mortality and transformation. Lucas’ investigations are informed by the events and emotions of the community around her, and inspired by the Dharma Art and Social Practice movements, social activism, and the End of Life Doula and palliative care movements; framed by a personal mythology on the meaning of creativity. Lucas has collaborated with artists, choreographers, dancers, musicians, art directors, sex workers, health care and LGBTQIA non profit organizations, and the public at large. The Bardo ∞ Project explores the arts as a form of spiritual care in collaborations with terminally ill artists and creatives nationwide to establish their legacy. Marne is a private practice End of Life Doula, a role that supports the dying and their families, and serves the NYC area. www.marnelucas.com
About Table Talk
We recognize that marginalized communities and cultures -- Black, Indigenous, Latino/a/x, Asian American, Disabled, LGBTQ+, etc. -- have their own unique perspectives and shared truths. All of these groups face tremendous challenges in dealing with serious illness, dying, grief, discrimination. And there is a shared need for platforms to talk about these issues freely in order to connect, learn, heal, remember, and take action.
While individual Table Talks are developed by and for specific communities, we recognize that often these groupings are permeable. Many of us describe more than one group as “home,” and many of us have experienced oppression based on multiple aspects of our intersecting identities: race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and more.
Table Talk topics include:
Grief
Values, Wishes & Plans
Palliative & Comfort Care
Hospice Care
Ceremonies & Rituals
Living Fully
Reimagine invites people of all backgrounds to join us to witness, listen and learn at Table Talk. Ultimately we are creating space rooted in the principles of Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in order for everyone to thrive.
Table Talk is made possible with support from the Fetzer Institute and the John and Wauna Harman Foundation.
