Episode 154

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Published on:

21st Jan 2024

Hank Dunn on Hard Choices for Loving People and Preparing for End of Life Care

Since 1983 Hank Dunn has been ministering to patients at the end of their lives and their families. During that time he has served in a nursing home, hospice programs and a hospital. He has become an expert on the topic of helping patients and families with end-of-life decisions.

He is a past president of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association and has served on several ethics committees. Hank is a frequent speaker nationally on the topic of making end-of-life decisions and spirituality and healthcare. 

To help him explain end-of-life decisions to patients and families, he wrote a booklet to hand to them so they could reflect on the issues discussed. As an afterthought, he sent the book out to other institutions to see if they would be interested in purchasing it for their clients. First published in 1990, Hard Choices for Loving People: CPR, Feeding Tubes, Palliative Care, Comfort Measures, and the Patient with a Serious Illness is now in its Sixth Edition, with over four million copies sold, and it is being used in more than 5,000 hospitals, nursing homes, faith communities and hospice programs nationwide. His second book, Light in the Shadows: Meditations While Living with a Life-Threatening Illness, is a collection of reflections on the emotional and spiritual concerns at the end of life.

Hard Choices for Loving People-

https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Choices-Loving-People-Palliative/dp/099726120X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8EZKO1XG9ULE&keywords=hard+choices+for+loving+people&qid=1705748342&sprefix=hard+choices+for+%2Caps%2C346&sr=8-1

Light in the Shadows- https://www.amazon.com/Light-Shadows-Meditations-Life-Threatening-Illness/dp/1928560059/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2Z46OWPQM7Y5Y&keywords=light+in+the+shadows+hank+dunn&qid=1705748501&sprefix=light+in+the+shadows+hank+dun%2Caps%2C586&sr=8-1

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About the Podcast

The Clarity Podcast
A Podcast for those seeking Clarity in Life and Mission.
The team at Clarity Podcast knows that missional leaders struggle with ambiguity and uncertainty in everyday life and mission. We believe that transparent unscripted conversations with people who care about you will provide clarity, insight, and encouragement so that you can be resilient, healthy, and confident in the decisions you make in life and mission.

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Aaron Santmyire

Aaron started his career as a registered nurse in 1998, following his nursing education at Allegany College of Maryland. While working as a registered nurse in Lakeland, FL, Aaron completed another facet of his education at Southeastern Bible College in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in Missions and Cross Cultural Studies. In 2006, Aaron furthered his training in nursing to receive his Nurse Practitioner degree in Family Practice from Graceland University. He received his Doctorate in Nursing Practice from West Virginia University in 2013. His current credentials are APRN-BC, DNP which stands for Advanced Practice Registered Nurse – Board Certified, Doctor of Nursing Practice. More recently, Aaron completed his Master's in Business Administration from Southwestern Assemblies of God University.

Aaron began his work as a medical missionary in 2002, first in Burkina Faso and more recently in Madagascar. In Madagascar, he treats impoverished patients for general medical conditions as well as dermatology, traveling throughout the country by helicopter and with his mobile clinic. Dermatologic care in rural Madagascar was virtually non-existent prior to Aaron’s arrival in the capital city of Antananarivo. Aaron has used his expertise to provide health education to patients, teach in nursing schools and train local Malagasy physicians on evidence based treatment of tropical skin diseases, including chromoblastomycosis and leprosy. While there, he independently has also undertaken a medical trial to treat a rare dermatologic condition called chromoblastomycosis. His work provides him with a unique set of skills and expertise.