HFA Press Releases
Contact:
David Abrams
HFA President
305.981.2522
For Immediate Release
September 27, 2004
Hospice Foundation of America Expands Educational Programs on End of Life to the Florida Faith Community
(Miami) – Hospice Foundation of America’s online curriculum Engaging Faith Communities In End-of-Life Care is now available to Florida clergy and lay faith leaders seeking continuing education or simply a greater understanding of their role in counseling people facing a medical crisis or death. There is no cost associated for the Florida faith community to enroll in the course, which is available on the Internet at www.endoflife.org, and on CD-Rom. The CD-Rom version can be obtained by calling 1-800-854-3402.
Funded by the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, Engaging Faith Communities in End of Life Care is a series of training modules designed to educate clergy and lay leaders about the dying process, options for care at the end of life, and bereavement, so that they can minister more effectively to the dying and their families. In addition to the module-based education, course participants are able to interact with other program participants via the Internet and ask questions and receive answers from an end-of-life expert who is also a member of the clergy.
Traditionally, clergy members of all faiths and denominations receive little or no formal training in advising, assisting and supporting people through end-of-life crises. Members of the clergy are often called upon to minister to the dying and their families, offering counsel and support at moments of trauma and loss. Many theological schools provide minimal or no instruction in grief and bereavement. Engaging Faith Communities in End of Life Care seeks to fill that void.
In a letter to Gov. Jeb Bush, Rev. Lois Thompson Murray, Chaplain, University of Miami, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, a participant and supporter of the online studies wrote:
“I believe that “Engaging Faith Communities in End of Life Care,” conducted by the Hospice Foundation of America has increased greatly health professional and clergy awareness of the need to connect spiritual with medical issues. This education effort should continue to be top priority on your health issues list.”
With more than 56,000 funerals in Florida each year, hundreds of thousands of survivors will benefit from informed spiritual leaders able to use the proper words, avoid the wrong ones, and reach out with increased compassion and sensitivity to the special needs of the terminally ill and the bereaved.
The curriculum for Engaging Faith Communities in End-of-Life Care was shaped by the Clergy End-of-Life Education Project Advisory Committee. The committee was comprised of 15 members representing Florida’s hospice organizations, university ethics and gerontology programs, clergy members, and medical care providers. The Medical Advisor to the project was William Lamers, MD who serves as a Medical Consultant to Hospice Foundation of America. The Educational Consultant to the project was Kenneth Doka, Ph.D., M.Div., Graduate Professor of Gerontology at the College of New Rochelle, and a recognized leader in clergy end-of-life education.
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