Heart-to-Heart Audio Documentary - Caring for the Dying

A series of three, hour-long audio documentaries designed for national radio broadcast. Distributed by PRI, Public Radio International.

Everyone dies. Not everyone dies well. Good care can make the difference.

How can we help people live well in the face of death? How can we make the process of dying a meaningful experience, free of fear and pain? Heart-to-Heart raises these questions and explores some of the answers.

This series looks at the care given by doctors, hospitals, clergy, family and friends to people at the end of life. It examines the barriers to good care that arise from cultural misunderstanding, from fear over the use of morphine and other drugs, from lack of funding to pay for good programs. It provides ideas, examples and inspiration for those who are searching for a good path on the journey to death.

Through a weave of personal stories, real life scenes, discussion, original music and a rich sound design, Heart-to-Heart creates a sonic tapestry for the listener, revealing the daily reality experienced by those who are dying and by those who are caring for them.

"Claire Schoen's sensitively crafted series on caring for the terminally ill is very compelling. This is what good radio is all about. It's wonderful!" - Bill Beckett, Program Director, WUFT-FM Gainesville

Made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

New! HEART-TO-HEART: Caring for the Dying has won the 2004 Clarion Award for Best Radio Documentary Series and a 2005 Gracie Award for Best Documentary Series.


The Clarion Award is presented by The Association for Women in Communications. The AWC is "a professional organization that champions the advancement of women across all communications disciplines by recognizing excellence, promoting leadership and positioning its members at the forefront of the evolving communication era." The Clarion Awards is a renowned competition recognizing the best works from all communications fields.		The Gracie Allen Awards, now in their 30th year, honor outstanding achievements in radio and television programming that is created by or about women . The Gracie Allen Awards are presented by the Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television.