Take Action

Volunteer as someone who can listen, talk, cook, make crafts or bring music to hospices, rehab centers, convalescent homes and/or hospitals.
Create a booth for local fairs to distribute information about local end-of-life choices and making wills. Consider inviting legal professionals and notaries to donate services and help staff the booth.
One thing in the film that helps people cope with fear is to make plans and prepare for likely events. Use the film to make a checklist of things that might worry you and, together with family and caregivers, make your own plans in the event of terminal illness for:
- pain management
- limited mobility
- loss of independence/ability to care for self
- financial security of surviving family (and, in the case of minor children, who will take guardianship)
- medical directives (e.g., do not resuscitate orders)
- funeral arrangements
If you don't already have one, write a will (or make sure your existing will is current).
Hold a fundraising concert for a local hospice. Invite hospice residents and staff to suggest their favorite tunes for inclusion in the program.
Engage policymakers in a conversation about the government's role in establishing public policy that eases end-of-life decisions and funds end-of-life and palliative care options.
Contribute to the #MyLastSong initiative by selecting your song, then recording a video and uploading it to the film website: www.sevensongsfilm.com/mylastsong
Screen the film and host a workshop on end-of-life planning after the film using the workshop guide available with the educational edition of the film, which you can purchase here: http://www.sevensongsfilm.com/edu
Lead the audience engagement workshop created by the director of Seven Songs for a Long Life. The workshop aims to use the energy created from the film to power audience members' individual reflections. A short animation explaining the workshop is available here: http://www.sevensongsfilm.com/workshops. The workshop asks audience members to discuss the following questions in pairs:
- What counts as a good day for you?
- What values, or qualities, in your own life would you like to be remembered for (your legacy)?
- What do you do at the moment that shows those values?
- Imagine you have been given a life-limiting diagnosis. Would you change what you do?