MCDES History

The Minnesota Coalition for Death Education and Support (fondly called MCDES, that is “McDess”) began in 1977 as the Minnesota Coalition for Terminal Care. The initial purpose was to coordinate the emerging efforts among professionals and volunteers in the areas of death, dying and grief. Minnesota was playing a leading role nationally in this new movement and we needed a way to talk to each other about what we were doing, learning and teaching. Many efforts - at the University of Minnesota, (Robert Slater, Robert Fulton, John Brantner, Howard Bell, Ida Martinson), Hamline University (Betty Green, Donald Irish), North Memorial Hospital (Judi Johnson, Pat Norby), Mount Sinai Hospital (Gail Noller), Bethesda Hospital (Carmian Seifert) - were occurring with minimal knowledge of each other. The first conference was scheduled at Fairview Lutheran Deaconess Hospital (now gone) for June 10, 1977 and 40 invitations were sent. 77 people showed up to hear reports of the variety of efforts related to death and dying currently launched in the Twin Cities.

Thus MCDES got its start. It grew into an organization that was a neutral force in the competitive health care environment of the Twin Cities. It helped spawn the first hospices in the Twin Cities, and led to the birthing of the Minnesota Hospice Organization, now called Hospice Minnesota. It has been and continues to be a voluntary organization led by a working board of volunteers. Its hallmark is education: high quality full-day, reasonably-priced spring and fall conferences, aimed towards those working with the dying, where national speakers are showcased. In addition, regular newsletters have kept alive the network of those working in the field.

MCDES helped sponsor the National Hospice Organization's Annual Meeting and Symposium in 1989 at the newly opened Hyatt Regency Hotel in Minneapolis, where 1500 people from around the world convened to cheer the announcement of the newly passed Medicare Hospice Benefit and to learn more about death and dying over the five-day conference. MCDES also funded the publishing of the book Death, Dying and Bereavement: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, one of the earliest books to look at this issue, based on one of the organization's conferences. It is still available from Taylor-Francis Publishers.

MCDES has had a very dedicated membership and leadership. Currently led by Ben Wolfe of Duluth, it is as vital and effective as it has ever been. The organization has been flexible and adjusted to changes in the field, but has stayed true to its commitment to high quality education and communication among professionals and volunteers working in death, dying and bereavement.