Don’t Be Afraid to Go Home
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: November 14, 2018, 19:00 – 21:00
What happens if we lie to a patient about their state of health? Do serious illnesses have some meaning? And why should we not kill the dying, as proponents of euthanasia wish, but respect their lives until the natural end?
These issues and more are in focus in Neboj se vrátit domů (Don’t be Afraid to Go Home), a book of interviews with the founder of the Czech hospice movement,Marie Svatošová. The discussion with her will be helmed by writer and journalist Aleš Palán. The new book was issued by publishers Kalich in connection with the autumn Big Book Thursday.
It was Svatošová some years ago who put forward the idea of hospice palliative care. It was she who initiated the opening of the first Czech hospice. And it is she who continues to tirelessly cross the country giving lectures on hospice care and serving as an advisor to new hospices. In the book Svatošová also discusses her own family and medicine studies, how Fr. Ladislav Kubíček influenced her and her Trappist fan club.
In many hospices we find the quotation “Our aim is to fill days with life, not life with days.” The author of those words, Marie Svatošová, has succeeded in filling her own life with life, as well as meaning and incredible service.
Dr. Marie Svatošová and Aleš Palán will answer readers’ questions at the VHL.