Hospice Foundation of America E-Newsletter
December 2002
Hospice Foundation of America E-Newsletter
Volume 2, Issue 12
December 2002
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Message from David Abrams, President
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As we move into mid-December, our thoughts naturally turn to the end of the year. This is often the time that many of us evaluate our accomplishments of the past 12 months. We also set goals for the approaching year and examine our plans for the future. As part of our professional assessment surrounding end-of-life care, I would like to draw your attention to a valuable report released by Last Acts. "Means to a Better End: A Report on Dying in America Today," examines the status of end-of-life care in this country. While the report tells us that we have some way to go to improve our care of the dying, it presents us with a valuable opportunity for initiating dialogue surrounding these vital issues. In this month's e-newsletter, we focus on this important report that can serve as a valuable tool in the ongoing efforts to improve care for the dying.
Best wishes to you all as we end this year and celebrate the arrival of 2003.
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Focus on: "Means to a Better End: A Report on Dying in America
Today"
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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Last Acts Campaign, a national coalition to improve care and caring near the end of life, released a report on November 18th that provides a statistical portrait surrounding the availability of good end-of-life care in our nation. "Means to a Better End: A Report on Dying in America Today," grades each state and the District of Columbia on eight criteria designed to assess key elements of care near the end-of-life. The report provides an explanation of each criteria and information on the methodology used. The report states that, "Americans at best have no better than a fair chance of finding good care for their loved ones or for themselves when facing a life-threatening illness." However, the report provides a significant amount of valuable data that can serve to spark public discussion on critical end-of-life care issues. At the Last Acts press conference on November 18th, Drew Edmonson, Attorney General, State of Oklahoma, and President of the National Association of Attorneys General, commented, "It's good to have the study done and presented so we can go forward from here." The final section of the report, "Momentum for Change," provides positive examples of statewide coalitions and partnerships that are actively working to improve end-of-life care in their communities. The report clearly demonstrates the value of these partnerships, "Largely through the work of statewide coalitions, 160 separate legislative acts were passed in 23 states between 1999 and 2001."
In addition, Last Acts has developed extensive support materials that include a media kit for the press, letters to the editor, state fact sheets, an Action Guide and a sample PowerPoint or HTML presentation. These tools have been designed to raise awareness and spark discussion surrounding access and availability of good care for the dying. Last Acts encourages individuals and organizations to make use of these valuable resources in their local communities, both now and in the future. The information in this report, and the resources available at the Last Acts Web site, are intended to be tools for the ongoing goal of advancing the quality of care for the dying. Read the full text of the report, "Means to a Better End: A Report on Dying in America Today." (This link is no longer available.)
Visit the Last Acts Web site [NOTE -Program has ended.] to access the available support materials to begin outreach in your area (click on the Full Report Coverage prompt found on the Last Acts home page.)
Rallying Points, a new project established by Last Acts, has been created to assist 350 local coalitions in efforts to improve end-of-life care at the community level. Visit their Web site.
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What's New@HFA
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LIVING WITH GRIEF: COPING WITH PUBLIC TRAGEDY.
Many of those working in the field of death, dying and bereavement are familiar with Hospice Foundation of America's Living With Grief textbook series. Each book features a collection of articles developed in conjunction with our annual bereavement teleconference. The upcoming volume, "Living With Grief: Coping With Public Tragedy," will be available in Spring, 2003. HFA invites you to preview the opening chapter of this new publication that promises to be a valuable resource to all those concerned with ways that public tragedy affects us and our communities. Read the opening chapter by Kenneth J Doka, PhD, HFA Bereavement Consultant and Professor of Gerontology at the College of New Rochelle. See "What Makes a Tragedy Public?"
THE CLERGY END-OF-LIFE ENHANCEMENT PROJECT.
Recognizing the important role that members of the clergy can play in offering guidance and support to those facing a terminal illness, the Florida Legislature has provided funding for an inter-denominational program, The Clergy End-of-Life Enhancement Project. Hospice Foundation of America along with the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and the Health Council of South Florida, Inc. will work together to create and offer this educational training program later in 2003 to members of the clergy in several counties within the State of Florida.
Read the HFA press release about the Clergy End-of-Life Enhancement Project.
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Site Coordinator's Corner
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The value of community outreach is evident in the "Means to a Better End" report. We suggest that you make HFA's annual satellite teleconference a part of your local educational outreach efforts. Over 600 organizations have already registered to bring our next broadcast, "Living With Grief: Coping With Public Tragedy," to their communities. Think about some of the local groups you could partner with, or visit the Rallying Points Web site to get in touch with a local coalition and see if they are planning on participating in the live teleconference broadcast on April 30, 2003.
Call us at 1-800-854-3402 to have a registration form sent to you, or visit the HFA Web site to download a registration form or register online.
Need more information about hosting a site for the teleconference? Check out the Frequently Asked Questions section.
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FYI
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A review of HFA's book, "Caregiving and Loss: Family Needs, Professional Responses," ran earlier this year in the "Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing." The reviewer writes: "This comprehensive text greatly expands and deepens the understanding quality end-of-life care that hospice provides. . . 'Caregiving and Loss: Family Needs, Professional Responses' is a rich, informative text that would be an asset to any professional involved in any level of hospice care. Policy makers, supervisors of those providing care or, indeed, caregivers themselves would greatly benefit from reading this book."
Given this newsletter's focus on the status of end-of-life care in this country, this publication can serve as a useful resource. View the contents of this, and the other HFA Living With Grief textbooks.
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This newsletter is sent to more than 8,300 subscribers on the 2nd Wednesday of every month to keep you
informed of what is happening in the fields of hospice, grief and bereavement, and
caregiving, as well as what's new at HFA. We encourage you to forward this e-newsletter to an interested colleague or
friend.
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This newsletter is published by Hospice Foundation of America
Jack D. Gordon, Chairman
David Abrams, President http://www.hospicefoundation.org
© Hospice Foundation of America 2002
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