Alan Alda to Give Rare Appearance in Toms River to Discuss Art and Science of Communicating
Community Medical Center; and Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, are proud to present an evening with legendary director, actor and author Alan Alda on Tuesday, September 12 at 7:00 p.m. at the Grunin Center for the Arts, Ocean County College, Toms River, N.J.
Alan Alda has been on a decades-long journey to discover new ways to help people communicate and relate to one another more effectively. Drawing on improvisation training, theater and storytelling techniques from a life of acting, and with insights from recent scientific studies, Alda will describe ways to improve communication between physicians and patients as well as with family, friends, business associates, and others.
The event will feature a critique of a role play session with a physician and patient to demonstrate effective communication techniques for both individuals.
If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? is the warm, witty, and informative chronicle of how Alda found inspiration in everything from cutting-edge science to classic acting methods. His search began when he was host of PBS’s Scientific American Frontiers, during which he interviewed thousands of scientists and developed a knack for helping them communicate complex ideas in ways a wide audience could understand—and Alda wondered if those techniques held a clue to better communication for the rest of us.
In his wry and wise voice, Alda will reflect on moments of miscommunication in his own life when an absence of understanding resulted in problems both big and small. He will guide us through his discoveries, showing how communication can be improved through learning to relate to the other person: listening with our eyes, looking for clues in another’s face, using the power of a compelling story, avoiding jargon, and reading another person so well that you become “in sync” with them, and know what they are thinking and feeling—especially when you’re talking about the hard stuff.
The event will benefit Caregiver Volunteers of Central Jersey and Friends’ Health Connection. Tickets are $35 each and a limited number of VIP Meet-and-Greet tickets are available for $75. All tickets include a copy of Mr. Alda’s best-selling book If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face: My Adventures in the Art and Science of Relating and Communicating. For tickets, please call 732-255-0500 or visit www.grunincenter.org
About Alan Alda: Alan Alda has earned international recognition as an actor, writer, and director. He has won seven Emmy Awards, has received three Tony nominations, is an inductee of the Television Hall of Fame, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in The Aviator. Alda played Hawkeye Pierce on the classic television series M*A*S*H, and his many films include Crimes and Misdemeanors, Everyone Says I Love You, Manhattan Murder Mystery, and Bridge of Spies. Alda is an active member of the science community, having hosted the award-winning series Scientific American Frontiers for eleven years and founded the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University. Alda is the author of two previous bestselling books, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I’ve Learned and Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself.
About Community Medical Center: Opened in 1961, Community Medical Center (CMC) is a fully accredited acute care hospital and offers a comprehensive array of services including advanced cancer care, sophisticated neurology and neurosurgery services including a neuro-interventional lab with a bi-plane, a level 3 Epilepsy Program, and cardiac care featuring three cardiac catheterization labs. CMC’s surgical service features the latest generation daVinci Si robotic surgical platforms, the only program in Ocean County. The hospital’s commitment to technology is evidenced by access to advanced radiologic technology and one of the most sophisticated linear accelerators used for radiation therapy and a CyberKnife for treating inoperable tumors. As one of the area’s most trusted providers of maternal and children’s services, superior obstetric care, a Level 2 special care nursery with 24/7 on site neonatologists for newborns requiring special care, a dedicated pediatric unit and a pediatrician in the Emergency Department are provided. Visit www.rwjbh.org/community for more information.
About Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus: Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus is an acute-care community hospital located in Lakewood, Ocean County. An RWJBarnabas Health facility, Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus merged with Monmouth Medical Center, a teaching hospital located in Long Branch, Monmouth County, in 2014. The hospitals are dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the communities they proudly serve through expanded access to specialty outpatient services that focus on preventive medicine and healthy living. The partnership has also expanded patients’ access to geriatric and pediatric emergency services, as well as outpatient neurology, oncology and geriatric services. Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus has converted to all private rooms, which makes it the only provider in the region with all private rooms for overnight stays. For more information about Monmouth Medical Center, Southern Campus, visit www.rwjbh.org/monmouthsouth.
About Caregiver Volunteers of Central Jersey – Caregiver Volunteers of Central Jersey (CVCJ) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1993 to assist the elderly, homebound, and veterans with everyday tasks in order to remain independent in their own homes. All services are free of charge and delivered by 1,200 volunteers to over 2,000 individuals in Ocean and Monmouth counties, N.J., over the age of 60 who are no longer driving. Volunteers provide transportation to medical appointments, grocery shopping, reassuring phone calls, visits from both humans and canines, and respite care. For more information about Caregiver Volunteers of Central Jersey, visit www.caregivervolunteers.org, or www.facebook.com/caregivervolunteers/, or call 732-505-2273.
About Friends’ Health Connection
Founded in 1988, Friends’ Health Connection is a nonprofit organization that provides support, education and inspiration to help individuals lead a healthy, meaningful life.