VEOLI

Susan is a founding member of VEOLI - Visualizing End of Life Issues, a group of North American graphic recorders available to draw all aspects of people’s wishes for their end of life experiences. Susan is available to do this in Atlantic Canada either via Zoom or in person. Ideally, this is done before death is imminent - in middle age, for example - and can include visual vigil plans, visual advance care plans, legacy story maps, visual obituaries or memorial visuals.

As VEOLI's website states, “. . . the intention is to create a useful communications tool designed to help individuals and families process this time of life and its deep meaning.”

“Not everyone wants to have conversations about their imagined death scene; I felt a little anxious at the thought and couldn't even say what I wanted my last days/hours on earth to be like. Once I settled into the conversation with Susan and other VEOLI members though, I quickly started to identify things that were important to me. The graphic portrayals produced of my death vigil were amazing. Somehow the drawing made death a bit more approachable - even friendlier. I feel more peaceful about death as a result. A warm thanks!”

– Dr. Deborah McLeod, RN with extensive experience in psychosocial oncology; psychotherapy

"I wondered how I would respond to seeing my end-of-life wishes laid out in front of me. I thought it would be overpowering and not in a positive way. But it had the opposite effect. Seeing my end-of-life wishes represented in Susan’s beautiful artistic style created an easy approach to entering into what could be a challenging discussion with others. The artwork enables a person to choose a section where they feel most comfortable starting the conversation. Done verbally, I feel it would be more challenging to discuss end-of-life wishes with family, friends, or coworkers. This artistic approach by Susan changes all that."

– Bruce Devereux, Recreation and Volunteer Manager, Good Samaritan Canada, Gibsons, BC; Producer, Editor, Host "The Creatively Engaging" Podcast, Co-Lead, "Raising the Curtain" Dementia Community Based Research Project