Media Outreach

Caring Connections provides media resources for your community outreach activities:

Bill Colby Media Resources

Bill Colby, a nationally-known author and attorney, wrote op-ed articles for Caring Connections that hospices and coalitions can place in local newspapers, community magazines, consumer newsletters and organizational newsletters. The articles are non-exclusive, which means any newspaper can run it, and you are free to use it in whatever way you deem appropriate.  If you would like to have the articles adapted to your specific locale, contact Bill Colby at BColby25@aol.com to request text changes.

"Two Weeks" movie

Hospice Community Continues Work to Bring Attention to the Film
“Two Weeks”
 

A film by Steve Stockman Starring Sally Field and Ben Chaplin Teaches Many Valuable Lessons

(Alexandria, Va) – For the professionals, volunteers, and supporters working on behalf of end-of-life care, it comes as no surprise that in America death is considered one of the last taboos. Those committed to improving care for the dying know that important lessons about the journey at life’s end come from many different sources. A movie that explores one family’s experience with heart, soul, insight and humor, Two Weeks, was released on DVD in September 2007.
 
Caring Connections, the National Hospice Foundation, and many NHPCO members and coalitions supported this film when it was released in select cities across the country. Unfortunately, the film was not available in many communities.  Now, Two Weeks will be available at all major retail and rental locations providing the opportunity for audiences across the country to experience this special film.

Two-time Academy Award winner Sally Field stars as a mother with terminal cancer. Her four children return home for what they believe to be the last few days of her life. When she hangs on longer than expected, the family members find themselves “trapped” together for two weeks.  In addition to Field, the top-notch cast includes Ben Chaplin, Tom Cavanaugh, Julianne Nicholson, and Clea Duvall.

Two Weeks chronicles the family’s day-by-day struggle to cope with their mother’s illness and each other. The film is intercut with her reflections on her life and her family. It's an emotionally rich and multi-dimensional film that will touch your heart and your funny-bone, often at the same time.
 
DVD Extras include a group discussion guide on the film and care at the end of life, a director's commentary track that features a conversation with palliative care expert Dr. Ira Byock, and a resource page for consumers that includes www.caringinfo.org.

View the trailer at the official Web site.

The Two Weeks DVD is available at Wal-Mart, Amazon and most other video retailers, or add it to your rental queue at Netflix or Blockbuster.

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Here’s what critics have said about Two Weeks:

 Sally Field creates an agonizing portrait of Anita Bergman. Ms. Fields tough, accurate performance is all the more compelling for its understatement. A knowing cinematic primer on what to expect when a parent dies.
Stephen Holden, The New York Times

Writer-director Steve Stockman is writing from experience, as the script artfully melds the honest, cold facts of dying with the awkwardness and humor that can be found in such circumstances. It’s a film to be sought out.
Jeffrey Lyons and Alison Bailes, WNBC-TV

There’s an honesty to this films portrayal of what cancer does to family dynamics. Unsentimental, darkly funny. (Stockmans) gifts as a writer are beyond reproach.
Jason Shawhan, The (Nashville) Tennessean

Sally Field is formidable.
Lisa Schwartzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

Two Weeks is a worthy, thoughtful film. Director Stockman gets it down right. I admire the integrity and artistry that illuminated this film.
Rex Reed, New York Observer

Very real, very moving, and very funny. Sally Field is breathtaking.
Bob Rivers, CBS Radio



 Other resources for media outreach

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization

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