A Tribute to the Impactful Lives & Lasting Legacies of Ed Asner and My Sister Selma Schimmel

A person whose life has had and always will have a continuing impact and legacy is the legendary actor and humanitarian Ed Asner.?My husband Ken and I had the supreme joy of spending some time with Ed at his home as we all shared a deep concern about keeping our elders safe and properly cared for.?That led to our working with him as the host of our award-winning documentary “Saving Our Parents”.?An excerpt of that video can be seen on my website at www.debbybitticks.com.

Seven-time Emmy winner Ed Asner, who won fans over as newsman Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and later as the star of the spinoff series Lou Grant, died on Aug. 29. The acclaimed character actor was 91-years-old. Ed, who also took home five Golden Globes during his long career and served as president of the Screen Actors Guild in the 80s, also notably starred in Rich Man, Poor Man, Roots, Up and Elf, among many other shows and movies.

Ed was also dedicated to his work with children with autism (see www.edasnerfamilycenter.org). We have 12 grandchildren, and one of them is autistic as are two of Ed’s grandchildren. ?He was a very gracious and kind gentleman in every way, and his legacy and lasting impact will be forever felt by future generations.

My sister Selma Schimmel graced this world with so many lasting life lessons and tips.?Many people around the world still light a birthday candle in her honor.?This September marks the seventh year since her passing.

After being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 28, which was also shortly after the passing of our mother from ovarian cancer, Selma started her advocacy work with cancer.?Because she was so young and the doctors felt the lump in her breast was nothing to worry about at the time, they advised her to just ignore it and continue on with her day-to-day life.?However, Selma trusted her instincts and spent time researching a doctor on her own who was willing to perform an outpatient procedure and remove that lump.?This doctor was stunned when he went in and discovered that she not only had breast cancer, but that it had spread all the way to her chest wall;?I will never forget that phone call.?Selma demonstrated her tenacity and resiliency as she went on a worldwide search for the correct chemotherapy.

She went on to found Vital Options International (https://www.vitaloptions.org), a nonprofit healthcare communication, education, and advocacy organization with a special mission of generating global health conversations.?She gave light to the topic through her groundbreaking radio show, The Group Room, and thereafter through her international programs: Choix Vital in Paris, Vital Conversations, and Advocacy in Action.

Vital Options International is thriving to this day under the guidance and leadership of Chairman and CEO Dave Duplay.?The organization has expanded its mission to become a global health foundation focused on health education, supporting the financial needs of qualified patients and their families and giving patients and caregivers a voice through community and advocacy.

As a culminating 30+ years as an innovative leader in patient advocacy, VOI’s expanded mission includes direct support of qualified patients, their caregivers and families across all chronic, terminal and rare conditions through the Selma Schimmel Vital Grant.

The Selma Schimmel Vital Grant is a financial support program focused on helping qualified patients and their families who are enduring a financial hardship while battling a chronic, terminal or rare condition.?The Vital Grant program assists qualified patients for things like transportation to treatment, groceries, and other living expenses.?The program is administered in part by our partner foundations along with support from our Vital Partners who assist through donations and other capabilities.

Healthcare systems have overlooked an incredibly pertinent metric of success: the health and resiliency of those professionals who treat their patients. Secondary trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout are gradually becoming recognized issues around the country and discussed at the boardroom level of many organizations.

Almost paradoxically, healthcare providers themselves represent a huge, underserved healthcare population. For healthcare systems, the dual issue becomes - How does a hospital and integrated delivery network support and maintain their most important asset, their front-line healthcare professionals - while also addressing a serious financial concern.??

It’s estimated that hospitals and integrated delivery networks lose between $4 and $7 million dollars per year because of turnover.?Add to that, the global pandemic, and the topic of retention and resiliency in the healthcare workforce becomes crucial.

VOI’s Vital Resiliency solution is to address the underlying way Healthcare Professionals at all levels process and contain all of the trauma they encounter in their work. The Vital Resiliency program allows Healthcare Professionals to create lasting resiliency in the face of unremitting stress and trauma through our comprehensive, results-based, three-day training curriculum and ongoing support through a digital health platform.

Please remember Debby’s 3 G’s – Get Informed, Get Organized, Get Moving!?