Jonas Center Funds Groundbreaking Film, Defining Hope

Director Carolyn Jones’ new documentary sheds light on the importance of planning for end-of-life care, and reveals nurses’ integral role in palliative treatment

NEW YORK, NY, November 1, 2017 – On Wednesday, November 1, director Carolyn Jones’ groundbreaking new documentary Defining Hope, funded in part by the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare, will premiere in New York City. The film follows eight patients facing life-threatening illness, and the nurses who guide them to make critical choices along the way as they face death, embrace hope, and ultimately redefine what makes life worth living.

At its world premiere at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana, Defining Hope was awarded Best Premiere for a Documentary Feature. It also recently screened at the Carmel Film Festival in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, and will be shown at 100 theaters across the U.S. in November.

Jonas Center co-founders Barbara and Donald Jonas have advocated Jones’ work since 2012 when she published her book, The American Nurse. When they first learned of Jones’ latest project, they were immediately inspired to help bring it to life. “Defining Hope provides an incredible and authentic insight into the world of palliative care, and the important role that nurses have in caring for patients towards end-of-life,” said Donald Jonas. “As the Jonas Center continues its dedication to advancing the nursing profession and improving healthcare, we are happy to continue to support Carolyn on this new project and help bring this truly important issue to light.”

To find a screening near you and to purchase tickets, visit hope.film/screenings/

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About the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare

In 2006, Barbara and Donald Jonas established the Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare, the leading national philanthropic funder dedicated to improving healthcare by advancing nursing scholarship, leadership and innovation. Its two main programs are the Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholar Program, which aims to address the dire shortage of nursing faculty by preparing nurses with doctoral degrees to step into this critical role, and the Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program, which seeks to improve the health of veterans by supporting doctoral-level nursing candidates committed to advancing veterans’ healthcare. These programs currently support more than 1,000 doctoral Nurse Scholars nationwide.

For more information about the Jonas Center, visit jonasphilanthropies.org, follow us on Twitter at @JonasCenter, or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JonasCenterforNursingExcellence.