BY DANIEL GAITAN | daniel@lifemattersmedia.org

Cody Garbers never expected to bond with the terminally ill hospice patient he interviewed during a class project this spring.

Garbers is one of a handful of University of Wisconsin-Parkside communication students who took part in a new program preserving the stories and experiences of dying patients through the production of short documentaries.

“People are like walking stories, they are walking books,” Garbers said. “This project gave me the opportunity to open up one of those books that I never knew existed. It’s been emotional.”

Students at the Kenosha, Wis., university have spent the last few months creating “legacy stories” of hospice patients suffering from cancer, dementia and other terminal diseases. The documentaries will be given to patients’ families.

The effort, led by researcher Theresa Castor, aims to teach students the importance of interpersonal communication and familiarize them with death and dying. The project is a partnership with Pleasant Prairie-based Hospice Alliance.

“An important learning goal I had for the class was for students to learn how to ‘listen actively’ and listen to develop a sense of empathy,” Castor said. “I wanted them to really hear patients and understand their experiences. My department has a strong interest in digital story-telling, thinking about the stories people tell about their lives.”

Garbers’ patient was an 80-year-old military veteran with dementia. He spoke with Garbers’ about biking to California and crossing the Golden Gate Bridge to visit his daughter, his travels across the world, and the girlfriend he had when he was 12.

“It was so cool to see the look in his eyes when he talked about biking, he lit up,” Garbers said. “It was really beautiful. He reminded me of my father, such a dedicated man to his family and the military.”

Amanda DesLauriers, the school’s community engagement manager, said the class taught students the value of “being present” with people in their last stage of life. Before visiting patients, hospice staff visited the class to dispel myths about end of life care.

Hospice provides comfort and pain management rather than aggressive treatments– usually for terminally ill people with six months or less to live. Hospice is most often used when curative treatments are no longer effective.

Seniors Alissa Pulda and Audrey Nielsen teamed up for the project and interviewed a woman who lived through the Great Depression, segregation and was married at 17.

“When we started, we were really nervous,” Pulda said. “We’re very emotional people, so we didn’t think that we could talk to a patient in hospice care and listen to their story. We thought about opting out.”

The experience did turn out to be emotional, Pulda said, but in a pleasant way.

“Our patient treated us like family,” she added. “We left, and she gave us a hug and a kiss.”

Nielsen had “no clue” what hospice care was before the project.

“We often dismiss people who are in it, like just because they are in their last stage they have no value because they are going to pass away soon,” Nielsen said. “But our patient was so full of life. She had so much to give to us.”