HFA Press Releases
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Program Assistant
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For Immediate Release
February 13, 2003
CLERGY END-OF-LIFE EDUCATION PROJECT BEGINS IN FLORIDA
Training to Assist the Clergy in Counseling to Those Facing Illness, Death and Loss is offered by Hospice Foundation of America and the Florida Department of Elder Affairs
HFA - Miami, FL: For many families struggling with terminal illness, or the grief accompanying the death of a loved one, members of the clergy play an important role in providing support. Hospice Foundation of America and the Florida Department of Elder Affairs are sponsoring a series of free workshops to help clergy, lay ministers and other key figures in faith-based communities expand their knowledge and improve the care they provide.
The medical demands a family must face throughout a health crisis are often recognized. Yet the emotional and spiritual stresses can be overwhelming and also require attention. Members of the clergy are frequently in a position to attend to these needs which often remain unaddressed. The Clergy End-of-Life Education Project will provide workshop participants with comprehensive information, tools and interventive techniques that will help them better serve families coping with illness, loss and grief.
The Florida Legislature, recognizing the vital role clergy play in counseling families facing critical end-of-life decisions, provided funding for the Clergy End-of Life Education Project, a statewide, nondenominational pilot program. With the cooperation of the Health Council of South Florida, HFA developed a trainer toolkit and a comprehensive curriculum that addresses such topics as cultural considerations in dying, advance directives, models of care, the grieving process, spiritual needs of the dying, assisting families and self-care for the clergy.
Throughout February, March and early April there will be 19 one-day workshops offered in communities in South Florida, Central Florida, the West Coast and the Panhandle. Workshops are available free-of-charge to clergy, lay ministers and congregational volunteers who have the support of their clergy. A list of workshop dates and the cities they will be offered can be found on the HFA Web site at www.hospicefoundation.org/clergy.
Created expressly for clergy in the State of Florida, regional Health Council offices will partner with local hospices and Partnership for Caring Community Coalitions to offer these workshops to a diverse and inclusive population. More than 75 clergy and lay ministers have already participated in workshops held in Miami and Hollywood.
Clergy are often called upon to minister to the dying and their families, to offer guidance and support in times of serious illness, trauma and loss. Yet few clergy receive formal training regarding the myriad of choices the terminally ill are forced to make. A higher level of awareness and understanding surrounding end-of-life options among clergy will lead to a greater understanding of the choices available to the terminally ill, choices such as hospice and palliative care. This project will ultimately help the dying and their families gain better control over one of the most challenging situations they will ever face.
"Here at Hospice Foundation of America, we hear many stories of families who learned far too late that there were choices they might have made that would have improved the care their loved one received during their final months of life," said David Abrams, president of Hospice Foundation of America. "Hospice is only one example of a successful model of care that addresses the needs not only of the patient but family caregivers as well. Education and outreach to those in need must come from not only medical professionals but others active in the lives of the community. Members of the clergy are ideally suited to support and inform those they serve."
Hospice Foundation of America has been working on behalf of hospice for more than twenty years and is well suited to bring its knowledge to the Clergy End-of-Life Education Project. The Health Council of South Florida, a private, non-profit planning agency for the communities of Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties, engages in research, planning, advocacy, education and program administration. Working together with the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, these organizations bring a wealth of experience that will ultimately provide the citizens of Florida with better end-of-life care.
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