Hospice Foundation of America
E-Newsletter
Volume 5, Issue 12
December 2005
http://www.hospicefoundation.org  

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Focus on: Interview with Jack D. Gordon, Hospice Foundation of America

Jack D. Gordon was the pioneering force behind HFA’s National Bereavement Teleconference, the nation’s largest distance-learning satellite broadcast program. This year’s program, focusing on Pain Management at the End of Life, falls within the Decade of Pain initiative that has been set by Congress and organizations interested in issues of pain management.

In this interview, Senator Gordon discusses the special skills that hospice professionals bring to this issue; some of the common barriers to good pain management; and his vision for the HFA teleconference. [Note: Mr. Gordon served as Chairman and CEO of HFA until his death in 2005.]

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Holiday Journeys

We want to remind all our readers about the Journeys Holiday Issue. This special issue of HFA’s bereavement newsletter is a nice way for you to let your clients, donors or others in your community know you’re thinking about them during the holiday season. The 2006 Holiday Issue features two new articles: Holiday Survival Strategies, by Judy Tatelbaum and Home for the Holidays, by Paul Irion.

HFA’s special Journeys issues regularly sell for 25 cents per copy. We’re offering a special price of 20 cents per copy for orders of 25 or more of the Holiday Issue.

Orders at this special price must be received by 12/16/2005.

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Update on HFA Katrina Relief Efforts

Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) has donated $18,000 to help Louisiana and Mississippi hospices recover from Hurricane Katrina. Hospice Foundation of America’s unrestricted grant to the Louisiana Mississippi Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (LMHPCO) represents all funds collected to date by HFA for relief of disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina. It includes an equal, 1:1 match of external funds from HFA’s general fund.

“We are committed to helping hospices affected by Hurricane Katrina,” said David Abrams, HFA President. “Hospice Foundation of America, with offices in Miami, has endured the wrath of many hurricanes, including Hurricane Andrew and most recently Hurricane Wilma. On behalf of hospice patients and families, and the hospices that care for them, we felt compelled to react swiftly to the damage caused by Katrina.”

Immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck, HFA issued an offer of help to Gulf region hospice organizations. The Foundation’s efforts included:

• purchasing a satellite phone to facilitate communication for the states’ hospice organization;
• setting up a patient-locator area on the HFA website (www.hospicefoundation.org) to help reconnect families and hospice patients; and posting a special Katrina Designation section on its donation webpage so that donors could ensure that their donations would go directly to hospices affected by the hurricanes.

Regarding the satellite phone, Jamey Boudreaux, Executive Director of LMHPCO, told HFA, “You all have been there for me during the entire storm. I was looking for a satellite phone and you came through with [it] immediately—it was a comfort to have knowing that if everything else failed, that would be there.”

Boudreaux also told HFA that they have received an estimated total of $90,000 in donations. They are issuing $500 checks to hospice patients and hospice employees whose homes have been destroyed or severely damaged by Katrina. Many of these checks arrived before FEMA checks and insurance settlements. Boudreaux says that besides the generosity that Hurricane Katrina has spurred throughout the country, “The disaster relief fund is really bringing hospice providers together—we now are having meetings of all hospice providers along the Gulf Coast.”

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Pain Management at the End of Life

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News from the Hospice World

Covenant Hospice of Pensacola, Florida announced a significant expansion of its capability to provide improved care at the end of life to include nationwide management and leadership coaching and training for leaders interested in improving end of life care in their organizations. Through a partnership with The Studer Group, Covenant will provide training programs, specialized consultation services, and an Institute concentrating on end-of-life issues. Beginning in mid-2006, a series of End of Life Institutes will be offered throughout the country. The Institutes will be directed at assisting healthcare professionals improve their leadership and management skills in the area of end of life, hospice, and palliative care.

Dale Knee, CEO of Covenant Hospice, said, “This new partnership is a wonderful opportunity to improve care throughout the nation for individuals and their loved ones facing end-of-life issues and challenges, while concurrently improving the leadership skills and talents of the Covenant staff by the education and training they will receive by Studer Group trainers.”

The Hastings Center announces the release of a special supplement on end-of-life care, Improving End-of-Life Care: Why Has It Been So Hard? featuring essays about the last decade of progress and change in end-of-life care. The essays focus on bioethics, public policy, and law, and include reflections on the nature of death in America, the usefulness of advance directives, and the place of personal autonomy in healthcare decisionmaking. A briefing on the report, and on how to make use of its conclusions, was held in Washington, D.C. this fall. The full report may be downloaded from The Hastings Center website. Individual copies may be ordered by emailing publications@thehastingscenter.org or writing to: Publications Department, The Hastings Center, 21 Malcolm Gordon Road, Garrison, New York, 10524. Mail order copies are $18.00 postpaid.

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Upcoming Conferences

Health Action 2006 is being organized by Families USA, the national health consumer group, in cooperation with a wide range of national organizations, including HFA. This annual grassroots conference will take place in Washington DC, January 26-28. Registration is $275 until January 6. After that date registration is $325. (This fee includes three lunches, three continental breakfasts, snacks, a performance of the Capitol Steps, a dessert party, and lots of useful written material.)
For more information, go to Families USA website, call at 202-628-3030 or email field@familiesusa.org.

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Site Coordinator's Corner

Registration is now available online for hosting a teleconference site! The site registration fee is only $20 for Site Coordinators who register before January 15th. And remember--Continuing Education Unit credits are available for a wide range of professionals for HFA’s teleconference. In order to take advantage of the continuing education component of this program, you must register your site with HFA.

New this year: Site Coordinators are receiving a dedicated special electronic newsletter focusing on the 2006 teleconference. If you have registered for this year’s teleconference and have not begun receiving yours, please contact Kristen Baker at kbaker@hospicefoundation.org

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