Film Title

From the AAHPM 2005 Annual Meeting: “Changing Lenses: Using Popular Film to Enhance Medical Education on Communication, Empathy and Self-Reflection”

Film Title	Theme(s)	Other Comments
*299 Days in the Life of Nora Lenihan*	Hospice Care
*A Family Undertaking*	Normalizes dying	Family provide at home funerals
*A Time to Kill*	Empathy; loss of imaginative capacity	Final closing remarks of defense attorney
*Bambi*	Traumatic death
*Bambi*	Scene after mother is shot	Healing after grief, surrounded by pals (except thumper!!)
*Barbarian Invasions*	Divided family coming together at end of life. Euthanasia	At the end of the film, death is hastened with I.V. heroin
*Barbarian Invasions*	Pt who learns he is dying, family and friends rally around him, he is able to die at home with their help
*Beaches*	Dying at home verses hospital, grief, childhood grief	Use to show peaceful death
*Big Chill*	Grief scene in shower	Letting go
*Big Fish*	"Death Narratives"
*Bill Moyer’s “Healing and the Mind”*	Bill Moyer's film series	Use example with Jon Kabat-Zinn group therapy to see how mindfulness can change a patient's life
*Bill Moyer’s “On Our Own Terms” (PBS)*	Clips on death/dying. ALS clip discussing suicide	Shown to 2nd year med students during geriatric care block
	MS-4 Students view all to provide a self- reflections writing assignments
	Bill Moyer's film series	I use segments with patient’s words about dying, share perspective
*Brassed Off*	Life goals community	British film, set in mining community
*Breathing Lessons*	Life of a person living in an iron lung(polio)	Documentary - compassion issues with adjustment, chronic care
*Cries and Whispers*	Untreated pain, suffering spiritual agony
*Dead Man Walking*	Reconciliation, healing, forgiveness at EOL
*Effroyables Jardins*	You cannot engage a person in meaningful discussion, or even make them laugh, until you take care of their basic, immediate needs	French film; scene half-way through the film when the clown is introduced
*The Doctor*	Life of a physician diagnosed with cancer	Teaching communication skills, coping, empathy
	Role changes, change in perspective on time
	MS-4 Students view all to provide a self- reflections writing assignments
	Communicating Empathy
	Patient’s point of view, Dr. attitudes
*The Door in the Floor*	Pathological grief tearing a family apart	Show several images
*Driving Miss Daisy*	Last scene- feeding- another perspective
*ER Clips*	Various themes
*Field of Dreams*	Reconnecting/reestablishing relationships	Final scene of father and son
*The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer’s (PBS)*	MS-4 Students view all to provide a self- reflections writing assignments
*Forrest Gump*	Saying goodbye	Final scene
*Fried Green Tomatoes*
*Giant*	Living with a life-threatening illness
*Gilbert Grape*	Family systems/ dependency/dysfunction
*Go Now*	Diagnosis of and coming to terms with MS	Some strong language. British film. Don't do a spinal tap like shown!
*Goodbye Columbus*	Food as a social event – re: artificial nutrition and hydration discussion
*Grumpy Old Men*	Life each day
*The Hours*	Attitudes towards death and dying, caregivers feelings
*Ikiru*	EOL(5 stages), cross culture, spirituality	Remarkable how resonant 1952 Japan was with current issues
*Ikiru*	A story about a Japanese Civil servant who develops a terminal gastric cancer and finds a meaning of life after initial denial of his disease	By Akirakurosawa
*In the Bedroom*	Grief over loss of a child
*In the Gloaming*	Communication EOL
*Iris*	Alzheimer’s/Empathy	A wonderful insight into this disease for the patient & caregiver
*Iris*	Alzheimer’s. Loss of a brilliant intellect, caregiver difficulties	Some strong language. Powerful portrayal of struggles of elderly husband
*Life as a House*	Dealing with discussion about terminal disease with children; love
*Life as a House*	Meaning, accomplishment, reconciliation
*Lion King*	Speaking with children about death
*Lion King*	Traumatic death
*Lorenzo's Oil*	Devastating news, degenerative disease- hope and desperation	Measures family will go to for a cure
*Magnolia*	Conflicted relationships with dying parents
*Mortal Coil*	Compassion, understanding from patient’s view	Specific show about one patient who is comatose and her thoughts
*Mostly Martha*	Personal growth/change resulting from death experience
*My Life as a Dog*	Swedish film about a boy who's mother is dying
*My Life without Me*	Legacy-building and dying poor	Idea of 'risk' changing at EOL
*On Golden Pond*	Grief scene in shower	Letting go
*One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest*	"Establishment" control	How nurses and doctors manipulate to be in "control" and what recipients think and do to trust it
*One True Thing*	Caregiver role strain
*Ponette*	Four-year old French girl whose mother dies	French film
*Regarding Henry*	Head injury-effect on a family
*Samuel Beckett's "Footfalls"*	Tension between sick and caregiver
*Samuel Beckett's "Rockaby"*	Solitary dying, death-wish of lonely/depressed
*The Sea Inside*	Withdrawal of support, autonomy	Not available yet on video-still in theaters. Spanish language with subtitles
*Seinfeld Segment (TV)*	Advance care planning - segment with lawyer and Elaine	Humor
*Shadowland*	Growth at the end of life
	Love, pain, and grief	Story of CS Lewis – how he rediscovers the answer to his quote “the pain now is part of the happiness then”
	Anticipating death
*Shawshank Redemption*	Defining and experiencing dignity; loss of imaginative capacity; hope
*The Shootist*	Pain Meds	End of life work
*The Shootist*	Approaching death, pain	I use the scenes where John Wayne's character is discussing his approaching death with his doctor
*Snow White*	Speaking with children about death
*Stanley*	Medical uncertainty
*Steel Magnolias*	Loss, grief, religion and death
	Grief, parent losing a child
	Life Style choice, high tech, grief	Terminal death
	Transitions, profound grief, cultural differences between men and females ways of grieving
	Grief	Mother's response to her daughter's death, graveside scene
	The scene with Sally Fields at the cemetery expressing anger over the death of the daughter	I did use this entire film for critical care interns. We had "movie" day one Friday every 6 weeks

*The Stepmother*	Honest communication, communication blockers	Scene between mom and daughter towards the end of movie. Scene begins with both parties trying to protect each other; makes to an emotional/ honest discussion about dying.
	Dealing with discussion about terminal disease with children; love
	Closure-saying good-bye, reconciliation
*Tampopo*	Role of medical team with dying patient meaning of life for dying pt	Japanese film
*Terms of Endearment*	Preparation for death, death at a young age, inadequate care	Use to show intern in hospital to what I am doing
	Pain Management	Excellent scene on pain management in acute care setting. Known as "the MSOY scene"
	Bad news, bad pain treatment	Has been effective
	Waiting for shot (injection)	Responding to pt/family pain
	Lack of pain control	How pain "insensitivity" affects pt and family. What pt family do to get pain relief
	Pain- mother/daughter relationship
*Thelma and Louise*	Self determination	End scene
*Tom Jones*	Food as a social event – re: artificial nutrition and hydration discussion
*Tuck Everlasting*
*Tuesdays with Morrie*	Presence, personal growth, gradual decline	There is so much, I select accordingly
*Turning Towards the Mourning*	Grieving, stories of loss (powerful!)
*Waiting for God (BBC)*	Speaking with older pts, the question of euthanasia	Episode on "Euthanasia" addressing how physicians speak to older pts (or not) and the issue of euthanasia and respecting a loved one’s wishes
*Who Speaks for Robert?*	Discussing advance directives	Great for showing importance of a advance directives
*Wit*	Advocacy	Staff RN telling the resident to leave PT alone as her attempts to code her
	Cost of maintaining professional detachment	The CPR scene where the nurse serves as patient advocate against the doctor is very powerful
	Listening to Patient's goals; role modeling for nurses
	English professor's personal experience with stage IV metastatic ovarian cancer	Shown to 2nd year med students during pain/palliative care block
	Dying at the NIH	Film is shown to family practice residents and many of them identify with the NIH oncology fellow which leads to interesting discussions
	Symptom management. Power of presence- "Runaway Bunny" scene
	MS-4 Students view all to provide a self- reflections writing assignments
	Research ethics, informed consent, communication
	Palliative care/hospice process	Every section of the film can be used. We use it as part of ELNEC training
	MD/patient relationship, DNR, and dying in hospital
	Truth telling/Hope	Excellent for many aspects of EOL care teaching
	EOL, suffering
	Communication, suffering	Moving scene where former teacher provides comfort by reading a children’s book, illustrates a way to alleviate suffering
	Dehumanization that can occur in medical system
	Communication, pain/ symptom management	A wealth of topics- quite useful at many levels
	Breaking bad news	MD telling patient her diagnosis: treatment plan, symptom burden – vomiting
	Transitions, Communication, dying
*Witness*	Importance/ power of witness	Samuel's witness of murder in train station BR- child's witness to truth in adult world- it is scary; Harrison Ford's fist fight in Lancaster- being witnessed- reciprocal nature of witness; Closing scene outside barn- power of communal witness.