Site Navigation

This page is only available in Chinese.

My Online Heart to Heart® Café Experience

何藹恩 , Yannie Ho, MPH
CACCC Project Coordinator 美華慈心關懷聯盟專案協調

Stacks Image 29
During the beginning of May, I was able to participate in my first ever Heart to Heart® Café, and coincidentally with COVID-19’s social distancing restrictions still in place and for the sake of safety, this session also marked CACCC’s first ever online Heart to Heart® Café. The entire experience was very pleasant and heartwarming, with a total of 25 participants joining into this intimate online activity to talk about our feelings and views about end of life wishes. After a brief introduction of the special meanings placed within each of the 4 categories within the Heart to Heart® deck along with all the end of life issues inside, we were separated into small breakout rooms with 6 attendees and 1 facilitator to elaborate on the top 3 Heart to Heart® cards we each feel are most important.
The facilitator I was assigned to is Catherine, who I felt really connected to all of us and led us to very meaningful discussions. After an end of life issue was selected, she would follow up with questions for us to have deeper thinking on and actions that we may take to address those particular issues. The one card that really resonated within our small group was “I don’t want to be a burden to my family”, with nearly everyone picking it as an important end of life issue. Burden comes in many forms, whether emotional, physical, or financial, and the future of not knowing what may come up and put a strain on all our loved ones is frightening. The guidance that we received include broaching conversations with family in preparation of unexpected situations, and preparation in the form of advance healthcare directive (AHCD).
Coming out of this experience, I believe that all of us were able to express more or less our inner thoughts concerning end of life, not to mention more clarity and direction on how to ensure our wishes are conveyed to family and friends. Even though this was an online activity, there was no awkwardness at all and the atmosphere was very welcoming and inclusive. Talking about death together with everyone was not scary at all, I even felt comforted after the discussion, since I got to identify what key issues are important to me. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to take part in this Heart to Heart® Café by CACCC, and highly recommend this experience to anyone who want to learn more about the many end to life issues, as well as discover which may be most relevant to themselves.

我的線上安心茶話屋經驗
在這五月初我參加了美華慈心的第一個線上安心茶話屋，覺得整個經驗非常親密也令人感動。 這活動總共有25位參加者一起討論自己生命末期的心願和想法。我們被分在四個小組討論室裏，每個討論室有五位參與者和一位安心茶話屋引導人，我們一起分享和討論我們認為最重要的三張安心卡。
我這個小組的主持人是Catherine，她帶領我們做非常有意義的討論，也令我們對生命末期心願有更深入的思考。許多人選擇的卡是: 我不想成為家人的負擔，幾乎每個人都選了 這個心願。我覺得原因是生命中的負擔有很多種形式，不只是在身體上，還有經濟和心理上的負擔。未來會發生什麼是我們不知道的，但不想令自己心愛的人造成憂慮或負擔，卻是大多數人的心願。要達成這個心願，我們可以和家人多溝通，而且開始做相關的準備，例如完成醫療照護事前指示 (AHCD) 。
從這次的經驗中，我覺得我們每個人都能夠表達自己內心的想法和心願，並且收到關於如何確保將我們的願望傳達給家人和朋友的方法。我很感謝有機會參加這次的安心茶話屋，雖然這是個線上活動，但我覺得氣氛非常溫馨，小組討論時大家都能安心的說出自己的想法，在一起談論生死一點兒也不可怕，討論完後反而覺得很寬心，因為我現在知道什麼是對我最重要的。我會推薦這次安心茶話屋的經驗給任何想多了解他自己和家人最重要的生命末期心願與生命末期議題的人。

每月一讀
Email 郵箱
info@caccc-usa.org

Toll Free Number 免費電話
(866) 661-5687
Leave a message and someone will contact you.
請留下語音，我們會跟您連絡
follow me on facebook    follow me on youtube       
Mailing Address 通訊地址
P.O. Box 276,
Cupertino, CA 95015