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V O L . X X V N O. I V F E B R UA R Y 1 8 , 2 0 1 9 16 End-of-life care from the patient's perspective At the Hospice of Southern Maine Gosnell Memorial House in Scarborough, staff are being trained on a virtual reality simulation developed last year by California's Embodied Labs Inc. based on what it observed at that facility. e 30-minute module puts view- ers in the skin of 66-year-old Clay Crowder through his journey from receiving a late-stage lung-cancer diag- nosis to the end of his life surrounded by his family at home. Broken into three sections, the narrative goes from receiving bad news in the doctor's office to Clay's deathbed where he's surrounded by family and imagines a heron spreading its wings before taking his last breath. en the perspective shifts and the viewer sees Clay for the first and last time. It's an emotional experience, moving some viewers to tears, designed to show caregivers what it's like to be a patient at the end of his or her life. "Caregivers have a tremendous amount of empathy already, this just gives them the opportunity to see the entire experience," says Daryl Cady, Hospice of Southern Maine's CEO. Despite initial doubts, she says it's been wonderful working with Embodied Labs on a useful new tool some staff members have already used more than once. "It's not a once-and- done," she says. "It can be a continual learning experience." Hospice interfaith chaplain Angela Lutzenberger has a similar observation about what she calls a beautiful experi- ence, saying, "I don't think I learned something new as much as it was an affirmation of what I do." R e n e e C o r d e s , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t r c o r d e s @ m a i n e b i z . b i z a n d @ r s c o r d e s » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E The merger combines a leading Maine CPA firm into one of the largest independent public accounting and advisory services firms in the nation, with over 250 partners and 1,800 professionals in major business markets throughout the United States, Grand Cayman, China and Ireland. marcumllp.com COMBINED STRENGTH has merged into Dawson, Smith, Purvis & Bassett, P.A. Caregivers have a tremendous amount of empathy already, this just gives them the opportunity to see the entire experience. — Daryl Cady Hospice of Southern Maine Daryl Cady, CEO of Hospice of Southern Maine, says virtual reality helps her staff better understand what patients are going through. P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY F O C U S

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