HEART-to-HEART Pgm II: Children Sometimes Die
From: Claire Schoen
Series: HEART-to-HEART: Caring for the Dying
Length: 01:00:39
Children Sometimes Die is the second in a series of three programs about helping people to live well as they face death. Winner of both the Gracie and Clarion awards for Best Documentary Series.
We expect that children will get sick from time to time. But we don't expect them to die. The very idea of a child dying is so filled with emotion and pain that we don't even want to think about it. However, children sometimes do die. And they need our help to live -- and to die -- well.
Brittney is thirteen. Cystic fibrosis threatens to take her life before she has a chance to grow up. What choices can her family and doctors make to allow her a normal adolescence? And what rights does she have to make life-and-death choices of her own? Brittney faces the hard decision of whether to go on the "list" for a lung transplant. While a new lung might give her some additional years, the operation and its aftermath pose enormous risks.
Lemontay does not make his own choices. He is five, but has the mental capacity of a 6-week-old baby. Severe and multiple medical problems make each sunrise a small miracle for this child. Lemontay cannot talk. He cannot move his body by himself. He has great trouble breathing. But he is surrounded by a loving and caring family. Is this a life worth living? What does quality of life mean? And who determines when this child has been through enough?
Children living with terminal illnesses provide a unique and particularly difficult challenge for healthcare providers, families and our society as a whole. Children are not "little adults". And solutions for children living in the shadow of death cannot be simply extrapolated from adult hospice programs. End-of-life care for children must not only manage the physical symptoms of the child, but address social and psychological demands of the whole family.
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Piece Description
Children Sometimes Die is the second in a series of three programs about helping people to live well as they face death. Winner of both the Gracie and Clarion awards for Best Documentary Series. We expect that children will get sick from time to time. But we don't expect them to die. The very idea of a child dying is so filled with emotion and pain that we don't even want to think about it. However, children sometimes do die. And they need our help to live -- and to die -- well. Brittney is thirteen. Cystic fibrosis threatens to take her life before she has a chance to grow up. What choices can her family and doctors make to allow her a normal adolescence? And what rights does she have to make life-and-death choices of her own? Brittney faces the hard decision of whether to go on the "list" for a lung transplant. While a new lung might give her some additional years, the operation and its aftermath pose enormous risks. Lemontay does not make his own choices. He is five, but has the mental capacity of a 6-week-old baby. Severe and multiple medical problems make each sunrise a small miracle for this child. Lemontay cannot talk. He cannot move his body by himself. He has great trouble breathing. But he is surrounded by a loving and caring family. Is this a life worth living? What does quality of life mean? And who determines when this child has been through enough? Children living with terminal illnesses provide a unique and particularly difficult challenge for healthcare providers, families and our society as a whole. Children are not "little adults". And solutions for children living in the shadow of death cannot be simply extrapolated from adult hospice programs. End-of-life care for children must not only manage the physical symptoms of the child, but address social and psychological demands of the whole family.
Broadcast History
HEART-to-HEART: Caring for the Dying has been broadcast on over 150 stations to-date. These include major markets such as: KQED, San Francisco; WBUR, Boston; WBEZ, Chicago and KERA, Dallas. Originally distributed by PRI, the Series is now AVAILABLE TO ALL PUBLIC RADIO STATIONS.
Transcript
HEART-to-HEART Pgm II: Children Sometimes Die
" Narration 1: HEART-TO-HEART: CARING FOR THE DYING. FROM PUBLIC RADIO INTERNATIONAL. THIS PROGRAM -- CHILDREN SOMETIMES DIE -- LOOKS AT THE ULTIMATE TRAGEDY THAT A FAMILY CAN FACE AND THE SUPPORT THEY NEED TO GET THROUGH IT.
?" MUSIC: Theme Music IN
(Up in the clear. Then fade down and weave through Introduction.)
11" Brittney: When I, like, walk around and stuff, I don’t think of myself as being someone with a medical problem or anything. I just walk around like a normal person. (Chuckle.)
20" Narration 2: WE EXPECT THAT CHILDREN WILL GET SICK FROM TIME TO TIME. BUT WE DON'T EXPECT THEM TO DIE. THE VERY IDEA OF A CHILD DYING IS SO FILLED WITH EMOTION AND PAIN THAT WE DON'T EVEN WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT..... HOWEVER, CHILDREN SOMETIMES DO DIE. AND -- AS A SOCIETY -- WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO HELP THEM ON THEIR JOURNEY.
MU...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
Timing and Cues
Series Title: Heart-to-Heart: Caring for the Dying
Program Title: Children Sometimes Die
Total Program Length 58:00
(Program includes PRI logo, but OK to air on all radio stations.)
00:00:00 Incue: "Heart-to-Heart, caring for the dying. From Public Radio International. This program…..….."
00:20:05 Outcue: "You're listening to Heart-to-Heart, from Public Radio International. You can purchase a copy of this program or learn more about health care for the dying, at our website, hearttoheartradio.org."
41 sec music bed for ID
00:20.46 Incue: "Bonnie Schultz is the social worker on the palliative care team in Seattle……"
00:40:59 Outcue: "You're listening to Heart-to-Heart, from Public Radio International."
50 sec music bed for ID
00:41:50 Incue: "(New music in) At it's core, good care for these children is about good communication.………"
00:58:00 Outcue: "…….PRI Logo"
Musical Works
List of musical cuts included in the Heart-to-Heart Radio series:
All musical cuts were composed and performed by the Artist
All music is owned by the Artist.
The Heart-to-Heart project has rights to use all music in this series
Artist Title
Stephen Saxon Theme music (no title)
David Norfleet Various cuts from demo CD and composed for show
Jim Quinn Various cuts (untitled)
Additional Files
- Transcript of Pgm II for H-to-H series (HtoHChildrenfinalscript.rtf)
- Press Release for H-to-H Pgm I (PressRelease.doc)
- Sample Article about Heart-to-Heart for listener guides (SampleArticleaboutHEARTtoHEART.rtf)
- Brittney is 13 and has Cystic Fibrosis. Being a teen is hard enough without also having to struggle to breathe. (PhotoHeartPgmIIChildren.jpg)
- Timings and Cues for H-to-H pgm II (Programtimingsandcues.rtf)
- Promo 30 sec for H-to-H prg II (HeartChildrenPromo30sec.mp2)
- Promo 15 sec for H-to-H prg II (HeartChildrenPromo15sec.mp2)
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Adam Allington
Posted on August 25, 2005 at 09:18 AM | Permalink
Review of HEART-to-HEART Pgm II: Children Sometimes Die
This thoughtful hour-long program goes a long way to clear up several deep rooted misconceptions about the role of health care in the lives of terminally or gravely ill children.
The first issue the listener is brought to bear on is the simple reality that young children do die. As much as we want to believe that our own children, nieces, nephews, young friends will all outlive us...sometimes they don't. We hear very moving interviews and sounds of a child with cystic fibrosis and another with cerebral palsy. It's hard (emotionally) to hear their labored breathing but that seems to be the point.
The first 8 minutes of this program set the tone for whole hour, the fact that no matter how enamored our medical system is with high-tech procedures with children the most important thing is to do is just spend TIME with them, play with them, talk to them...that is how children work through their anxieties about death.
This hour has lots of interviews and live sound--children, physicians, parents, social workers all who attest to the fact that children have special end-of-life concerns that are different from adults. A great piece of programming that would be a good ever-green feature for most stations.