But she also knows that many people are reluctant to talk about death because it can be so emotionally unsettling.

"It's an easy discussion to postpone," admitted Harvey, USC Sumter director of distance and continuing education. "The time for families to talk about death and end-of-life issues is while each family member is healthy and able to make informed decisions."

USC Sumter's Center for End of Life Care will help families address these sensitive topics. Harvey is the impetus behind the new center. She became interested in end-of-life issues while watching "On Our Own Terms," Bill Moyers' report on death and dying that aired on educational television. She then attended a "Respecting Choices" certification program in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The program was sponsored by the Carolinas Center, an organization that continues to support Harvey's efforts in South Carolina.

"We are the first educational institution in our state to begin working at raising public awareness on advanced care, end of life, grief, death, and dying," said Harvey, center director. "We're not out to change anything. We just want to help folks become more aware and improve on what was being done."

Approved May 29 by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, the center will provide leadership and professional and community education toward improving end of life care in five counties: Sumter, Lee, Clarendon, Kershaw, and Williamsburg. More specifically, the center will focus on improving end-of-life care decisions and will foster collaboration among segments of the community, including hospitals, nursing homes, hospice programs, healthcare and legal professionals, members of the faith community, public officials, and private citizens.

The center will facilitate educational programs and public awareness campaigns. Another important component of the center is its educational efforts. The center offers a 14-hour advance care planner (ACP) certification course.

Advance care planners become skilled at listening to patient fears and concerns, offering support through the decision-making process, and communicating the patient's wishes to family members and the healthcare team.

"Having these conversations with the patients and their families is important," Harvey said. "I am hopeful that in the future hospitals will have an office with an ACP in it, or an attorneys' office or doctor's office may have an ACP on retainer. In the past, most of this work has been done pro bono, but there is a trend now that people may move into that as a paid profession."

The center will also offer continuing education courses and relicensure credit courses for lawyers, social workers, and other professionals. Another important component of the center's efforts is collaboration and resource-linking within existing structures, such as the local Council on Aging and area churches.

"For example, right now I'm working on an article for the Sumter Chamber of Commerce, encouraging businesses to include talking about end-of-life care when they are doing orientation for new employees," Harvey said. "Maybe the university will start doing this as they explain long term care insurance during new employee orientation.

"We're also trying to encourage professors to incorporate this into the curriculum in programs where it is appropriate."