Dr. Cicely Saunders

The Lady Who Changed The Way People Die

Who is Cicely Saunders

Cicely Sauders Born: June 22, 1918

Barnet, Hertfordshire, England

Not an Easy Beginning

Barriers she encountered:• Low priority for the dying in British Health Care • Lack of research into the dying experience• No specialized education• Facing up to social and professional bias• Excommunicated from the church when St.

Christopher’s Hospice opened• Brought up on ethical violations of the Hippocratic Oath• Expelled from the British Medical Society

David Tasma & Cicely Saunders

“I will be a window in your Home.”the promise of David Tasma of Warsaw

who died 25 February 1948 and whomade the first gift to St. Christopher’s

1976: St. Christopher's Hospice Opens

“It took me 19 years to build the home

around David Tasma’s window.”

“I did not find hospice; hospice

found me.”

Photo: Stephen Craven

Obstacles & Objections = Honor & Respect

• 1997: received Honorary Doctorate Degree in Medicine

• 2001: portrait was hung in National Gallery in London

Photo: NationalGallery.org.uk

Legacy of Dr. Saunders

• In the 1960’s Dr. Saunders prepared a simple 4-page handout for her lectures on Hospice

• Today Hospice is a full-blown medical specialty and her 4-page handout has been superseded by the 1244 page multi-authored Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine.

The Founder of Hospice Dies

• On July 14, 2005, Dame Cicely Saunders died at the age of 87

• Service was held at Westminster Abbey

• Over 4,000 in attendance

Final Thoughts

“You matter because you are you, and you matter to the end of your life.

We will do all we can not only to help you die

peacefully, but also to live until you die.”

Photo: www.kul.pl

Discussion Questions

• What has been your experience with death in your own life? How did that experience change your life?

• What barriers have you encountered in working with the

dying and death? • In your opinion how has Hospice changed over the years?

• Why do you think the medical profession took such a dim view of Dr. Saunders ideas and work and then later lined up to attend her funeral?

Discussion Questions

• Has anybody in your professional career reminded of you of Dr. Saunders?

• How would you define human dignity in the dying

experience? • What have you found in your career that helps enhance the

remaining time of a dying human being? • Share any thoughts or information you have concerning the

work of Dr. Saunders?