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Story-telling is not something that is usually
part of a hospital visit. But LIJ Medical
Center and Hospice Care Network have
partnered with StoryCorps Legacy, a pilot
program that provides people with life-threatening
conditions and their families the opportunity to
record, preserve and share their stories. And our
patients are sharing stories that will be handed
down to their families and the community at large.
StoryCorps works with a variety of
organizations including hospitals, palliative care
departments and hospices to help them incorporate
the reminiscence interview experience into their
existing services. Legacy staff train and prepare
partners to conduct and record interviews using
professional broadcast equipment on loan from
StoryCorps. Participants receive a CD of the interview
to share with friends and family, and another copy
is archived at the American Folklife Center at the
Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
At the health system, StoryCorps Legacy is
collaborating with LIJ’s Departments of Geriatric and
Palliative Medicine and Patient and Family Centered
Care and the Hospice Care Network’s Complementary
Therapy Program. The project runs through July and
both organizations expect to conduct a total of 60
interviews. The program is funded by a grant from
the Jordan Family Foundation.
“The StoryCorps project is a natural extension
of the conversations we share on a daily basis in
caring for older patients with serious illnesses and
supporting their loved ones,” said Tanveer Mir, MD,
associate chief of geriatric and palliative medicine at
LIJ. “This project allows us to explore and celebrate
people’s lives and document their stories for
generations to come.”
Christina Lightbourne, a volunteer at LIJ
for the last couple of years, became involved
in the StoryCorps project because she said she
enjoyed connecting and talking with older patients
and it seemed like a “natural segue” given her
activities at the hospital. In her first interview, Ms.
Lightbourne arranged a conversation between her
84-year-old aunt, Ruth Robinson, who has been
treated at LIJ for cancer and other conditions, and
her husband, Paul Lightbourne. “I was surprised
at how much detail my aunt remembered about
her childhood teacher Miss Green, who taught her
how to read and write. My aunt was also excited
to talk about her family, in more depth than at our
reunions every two years.”
“The StoryCorps program helps us capture the
voices of patients and family members and helps
us to look at the patient as a complete person,” said
52 Summer 2012
Partnership Gives Voices to Patients
with Life-Threatening Illnesses
By Betty Olt
Kirby Veevers, coordinator of patient- and family-
centered care at LIJ. “People have a big life before
they become patients at the hospital and we want
to honor that.”
Eva Pendleton, LMT, director of complementary
therapy at Hospice Care Network, said the StoryCorps
program is “striking a chord” with volunteers and
staff members and there has been an overwhelming
response to the project. “There is a fundamental
need for people to be heard. People love to tell a
story and everyone has a story to tell,” she said.
“In hospice care, life review and the
conversations we have with patients are done in
the spirit of the work we do every day,” explained
Ms. Pendleton. “StoryCorps is important because it
leaves a legacy for loved ones.”
Since 2003, StoryCorps has collected and
archived more than 35,000 interviews from more than
70,000 people. Some stories are shared during weekly
National Public Radio broadcasts of the show Morning
Edition. For more information, visit StoryCorps.org
Above: Volunteer Christina Lightbourne with
her 84-year-old aunt, Ruth Robinson, who had
stories to tell.