thegreatstory | Boomers 01: "Covid Legacy Pledge" for seniors (pt 1 of 2), April 2020 @thegreatstory | Uploaded April 2020 | Updated October 2024, 4 hours ago.
Connie Barlow posted her advocacy and example of a "Covid Legacy Pledge" for seniors ("Boomers and Beyond") online 17 March 2020, as "an invitation for ages 65+ to consider turning this crisis into a gift — for ourselves and for the younger generations": thegreatstory.org/covid-legacy-pledge.html
TAGLINE: "Turning fear into calm and crisis into generosity by insisting on palliative care at home and/or saying no to ICU medical interventions"
This video is the first of two parts.
PART 2 was posted on youtube 1 week later: youtu.be/XLuWGawuGis
PART 1: Here she reads aloud and adds commentary of the background sections of the pledge webpage: "What and Why a Legacy Pledge by Seniors?" The background is in 3 sections:
The Generational Setting
Interpreting the Covid Crisis and Stakes
Taking Action
In a separately posted Part 2 of this pledge, Connie will read aloud the remaining section of what she has posted on the pledge webpage: A Sample Covid Legacy Pledge (by Connie Barlow), in three sections: (1) Prelude, (2) Pledge, and (3) Plea.
TIMECODED LIST OF TOPICS:
00:12 - Connie Barlow, age 68, introduces herself
00:57 - Intent of "Covid Legacy Pledge" by and for seniors
03:10 - Reading and commentary begin
03:59 - SECTION 1: "What and Why a Legacy Pledge by Seniors?
04:41 - SECTION 1A: "The Generational Setting"
09:23 - SECTION 1B: "Interpreting the Covid Crisis and Stakes"
12:03 - HONORABLE ANCESTORS: Interpretation includes reflection on "what our own ancestral elders routinely did in times of crisis." The instinctive drive of elders wishing to act "honorably." Connie offers examples of her own paternal grandfather and her mother achieving natural and timely deaths in the old-fashioned way — outside of hospitals and advanced medical care.
14:16 - FAMILY STORIES: The importance of including in a Covid Legacy Pledge "Prelude" section personal and family stories of ancestral gifts in dying.
15:27 - MAKING SUPPORTIVE STATEMENTS: Three examples of explanatory statements seniors can use to convey their reasoning and ethical resolve for saying no to advanced medical interventions in this particular crisis.
17:37 - SENIORS ARE 8 OUT OF 10 COVID DEATHS: Further reflections on our ancestral elders choosing honor in times of crisis. Data aggregated as of mid April 2020 reveal that 8 out of 10 Covid deaths are of the 65+ age group. Centers for Disease Control citation: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/older-adults.html
19:07 - SELF-TRIAGE: Introducing the term "self-triage" within the traditional scope of triage. The triage crisis for medical staff as it is actually playing out, with emphasis on the decisions to begin — and end — deployment of a ventilator.
22:15 - SECTION 1C: "Taking Action" - brief overview
23:40 - VENTILATOR: Details on the physical and emotional trauma induced if one opts for (or is passively moved onto) a ventilator, notably (a) being put into a medically induced coma and (b) having to make decisions and then to communicate possibly final words to loved ones via smart phone, as visitors are not permitted in hospitals during this covid crisis. Reference NYT April 13: nytimes.com/2020/04/13/nyregion/coronavirus-nyc-doctors.html
UPDATE: April 22 journal article reports 88% of patients given ICU ventilation in a New York hospital died. Age breakdown: Ventilator death rate for under age 65 = 76%. VENTILATOR DEATH RATES FOR 65+ = 97%. Journal of American Medical Association online: jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2765184
27:03 - EMOTIONAL PREPAREDNESS for dealing with family members and friends who may resist our resolve and our right to make a legacy pledge.
29:14 - SENIORS TAKING AGENCY to inform themselves, reflect on values, and ensure that others know our wishes and resolve.
29:45 - FLATTENING THE CURVE: "Perhaps, too, by making our desires known, this in itself may help scientists fine-tune their modeling predictions for "flattening the curve" in ways that release more young people back into the workplace and thus help diminish anxieties of those still in the full working (and parenting!) stages of life."
32:10 - CREEKSIDE MEDITATION with wild baby salmon (filmed by Connie, April 16, Graham Gulch of Freshwater Creek, Eureka California).
Several decades of writings, audios, and videos by Connie Barlow on a Deep-Time Understanding of Death are linked here: thegreatstory.org/covid-legacy-pledge.html#supplementary
Connie's December 2019 guest sermon at a Unitarian Church, "Death of Expectations," is also on youtube: youtu.be/ZygrlfLrfIg
Connie Barlow posted her advocacy and example of a "Covid Legacy Pledge" for seniors ("Boomers and Beyond") online 17 March 2020, as "an invitation for ages 65+ to consider turning this crisis into a gift — for ourselves and for the younger generations": thegreatstory.org/covid-legacy-pledge.html
TAGLINE: "Turning fear into calm and crisis into generosity by insisting on palliative care at home and/or saying no to ICU medical interventions"
This video is the first of two parts.
PART 2 was posted on youtube 1 week later: youtu.be/XLuWGawuGis
PART 1: Here she reads aloud and adds commentary of the background sections of the pledge webpage: "What and Why a Legacy Pledge by Seniors?" The background is in 3 sections:
The Generational Setting
Interpreting the Covid Crisis and Stakes
Taking Action
In a separately posted Part 2 of this pledge, Connie will read aloud the remaining section of what she has posted on the pledge webpage: A Sample Covid Legacy Pledge (by Connie Barlow), in three sections: (1) Prelude, (2) Pledge, and (3) Plea.
TIMECODED LIST OF TOPICS:
00:12 - Connie Barlow, age 68, introduces herself
00:57 - Intent of "Covid Legacy Pledge" by and for seniors
03:10 - Reading and commentary begin
03:59 - SECTION 1: "What and Why a Legacy Pledge by Seniors?
04:41 - SECTION 1A: "The Generational Setting"
09:23 - SECTION 1B: "Interpreting the Covid Crisis and Stakes"
12:03 - HONORABLE ANCESTORS: Interpretation includes reflection on "what our own ancestral elders routinely did in times of crisis." The instinctive drive of elders wishing to act "honorably." Connie offers examples of her own paternal grandfather and her mother achieving natural and timely deaths in the old-fashioned way — outside of hospitals and advanced medical care.
14:16 - FAMILY STORIES: The importance of including in a Covid Legacy Pledge "Prelude" section personal and family stories of ancestral gifts in dying.
15:27 - MAKING SUPPORTIVE STATEMENTS: Three examples of explanatory statements seniors can use to convey their reasoning and ethical resolve for saying no to advanced medical interventions in this particular crisis.
17:37 - SENIORS ARE 8 OUT OF 10 COVID DEATHS: Further reflections on our ancestral elders choosing honor in times of crisis. Data aggregated as of mid April 2020 reveal that 8 out of 10 Covid deaths are of the 65+ age group. Centers for Disease Control citation: cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/older-adults.html
19:07 - SELF-TRIAGE: Introducing the term "self-triage" within the traditional scope of triage. The triage crisis for medical staff as it is actually playing out, with emphasis on the decisions to begin — and end — deployment of a ventilator.
22:15 - SECTION 1C: "Taking Action" - brief overview
23:40 - VENTILATOR: Details on the physical and emotional trauma induced if one opts for (or is passively moved onto) a ventilator, notably (a) being put into a medically induced coma and (b) having to make decisions and then to communicate possibly final words to loved ones via smart phone, as visitors are not permitted in hospitals during this covid crisis. Reference NYT April 13: nytimes.com/2020/04/13/nyregion/coronavirus-nyc-doctors.html
UPDATE: April 22 journal article reports 88% of patients given ICU ventilation in a New York hospital died. Age breakdown: Ventilator death rate for under age 65 = 76%. VENTILATOR DEATH RATES FOR 65+ = 97%. Journal of American Medical Association online: jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2765184
27:03 - EMOTIONAL PREPAREDNESS for dealing with family members and friends who may resist our resolve and our right to make a legacy pledge.
29:14 - SENIORS TAKING AGENCY to inform themselves, reflect on values, and ensure that others know our wishes and resolve.
29:45 - FLATTENING THE CURVE: "Perhaps, too, by making our desires known, this in itself may help scientists fine-tune their modeling predictions for "flattening the curve" in ways that release more young people back into the workplace and thus help diminish anxieties of those still in the full working (and parenting!) stages of life."
32:10 - CREEKSIDE MEDITATION with wild baby salmon (filmed by Connie, April 16, Graham Gulch of Freshwater Creek, Eureka California).
Several decades of writings, audios, and videos by Connie Barlow on a Deep-Time Understanding of Death are linked here: thegreatstory.org/covid-legacy-pledge.html#supplementary
Connie's December 2019 guest sermon at a Unitarian Church, "Death of Expectations," is also on youtube: youtu.be/ZygrlfLrfIg
