Sandra Barak says the time will arise when people need to think and talk about their wishes for end-of-life care in advance of a medical crisis.

"People often don't know what to say and what to do," Barak, a community liaison with Yolo Hospice and UC Davis Medical Center affiliate, told an audience May 20 during the Staff Assembly spring meeting in the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center.

Barak's talk touched on a range of topics, including pain and symptom management, social services, grief support, and companionship in the last months of life.

"Hospice is a passion for me. I've been involved in one for 13 years," said Barak, adding that she also worked as a case manager at the medical center.

The Yolo Hospice, a non-profit agency in Davis, includes nurses, social workers, home health aides, a chaplain and volunteers. Any person in the last six months of life is eligible for hospice care, which can be initiated by the patient, a family member, guardian or the patient's physician.

Death is but another chapter in the unfolding of life, Barak said. "How we eat, how we live and how we exercise has a lot to do with how we die," she said.

In other news, the Staff Assembly will hold a budget update June 7 in the Memorial Union, said Zack O'Donnell, chair of the assembly. Provost Virginia Hinshaw and John Meyer are slated to be guest speakers.

"We are looking for them to update the staff on the status of the UC budget, how it looks in relation to the pending state budget negotiations, and what UC Davis expects to see in strategic cuts," O'Donnell said.