Multicultural Immigrant Experiences at End of Life
While many issues we will bring up are universal at the end of life, we are speaking to them through an immigrant lens. In sharing our stories, we hope to raise awareness and open a forum to discuss the clash of cultures that can occur for immigrants as they experience end of life. What an immigrant may need in the areas of communications, decision making, comfort, community, identity, and grief often is at odds with a more unilateral Euro/Western-centric model of dying. We hope our audience leaves with a better understanding of issues to be aware of and how to better advocate such that the end of life process is the best it can be outside of people's home lands and cultures.
Guest Speakers: Enver Rahmanov was born and raised in Turkmenistan, then the former Soviet Union republic. He immigrated to the United States in 1995. Enver works as Chaplain Resident at the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in San Francisco. He identifies himself as a citizen of the world and a person of multiple spiritual belonging. Rashida Sanchez is a bereavement counselor working for Calvary Hospital in New York City and a certified Fellow of Thanatology through the Association of Death Education and Counseling. She is proud to be Haitian-American and passionate about working with immigrants, children, and faith communities as they navigate and experience grief. She looks forward to a continuing contribution to the field of death and dying and how grief can be viewed through the lens of social justice. Lillian Mehran is the Director of Outreach and Communication with End of Life Choices New York.
Your hosts: Tida Beattie is Thai-American and is training to be an eldercare consultant and end of life doula. Roshni Kavate is Indian-American and is a palliative care nurse. They met in a Reimagine breakout room and discovered they both want to bring to light marginalized immigrant experiences with the US healthcare system at end of life.
