HFA's E-Newsletter - February 2010

Volume 10, Issue 1

In this issue:

Message from Amy Tucci, President and CEO
Focus on: Children's Bereavement Programming
HFA Announces New Funding Opportunity
HFA Webinar Series on Grieving Children and Adolescents
HFA's 17th Annual National Teleconference
Plenty of Time Left to Register for the 2010 Teleconference
What's New @ HFA's Hospice and Caregiving Blog
Upcoming Conferences

Message from Amy Tucci, President and CEO

As the 2010 Teleconference approaches, HFA would like to acknowledge support this year from the Foundation for End-of-Life Care, which has been a generous and enduring sponsor of the annual event. The mission of the Foundation for End-of-Life Care is to provide resources to advance the quality of care for terminally ill patients and their loved ones by supporting improvements in medical education; funding promising clinical research; stimulating public policy discussion; and underwriting measures to advance the state of hospice care in America.

HFA has launched the first component of its new hospice education program. The "HFA Cares: Conversation, Advice, Resources and Education" Series is provided through a grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to support hospice and end-of-life care outreach and education. The site features video of individuals discussing experiences with hospice, and includes advice from healthcare professionals on matters related to end-of-life care. Links are provided to allow visitors to find more information on hospice, diversity and end-of-life care, Alzheimer's disease, and grief and bereavement. This is a work in progress and will develop into a comprehensive library of materials; keep checking back as we continue to add new video and educational tools. These resources aim to inform the public, and they may also be used by hospices wanting to refer people to additional sources of information.

In 2010, HFA will award several grants that further the goal of hospice and bereavement care. The first will be a $10,000 grant to assist a bereavement program for adolescents. Read on to learn more about submission guidelines, and to find out more about HFA's most recent grantees.

Focus On: Children's Bereavement Programs

In late 2008, HFA awarded its first set of grants to support Children's Bereavement programming across the country. Five organizations were chosen out of more than 300 proposals. The organizations included Gerard's House in Santa Fe, NM , in support of its Supporting Grieving Native American Youth program and summer activities for bereaved children and adolescents; T.A.P.S. (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors), for play therapy supplies and other materials for 18 Good Grief Camp for Young Survivors programs for military children; Hospice of the Upstate, Anderson, SC, to enable Hospice of the Upstate to introduce Play Therapy curriculum and materials into children's bereavement programs; Calvary Hospital, Bronx, NY, in support of Calvary Hospital's annual summer bereavement camp, as well as ongoing bereavement support groups; and Hospice of Siouxland, Sioux City, IA, for their Bereavement Diversity Outreach Program, to improve services to bereaved children and adolescents raised in homes where English is a second language. These programs represent some of the country's best and most innovative programming to support grieving children and adolescents.

Whether supporting children through a camp experience, using play therapy, or reaching out in diverse languages to meet children where they are, these grantees made a difference in the lives of grieving young people. Please go to our website to learn more.

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HFA Announces New Funding Opportunity

Hospice Foundation of America announces its new funding program to support grieving young people ages 13--17. Applicants must be non-profit hospices or other non-profit bereavement organizations whose programs are available to the entire community in which they are located. Hospice Foundation of America will award one $10,000 grant for program-related expenses (including but not limited to purchase of equipment or materials, publications, or other curriculum-related materials.) Priority will be given to programs who offer innovative programs for young people ages 13--17, with a special priority given to programs that focus on outreach to diverse populations. HFA will also award a number of smaller $1,000 grants for noteworthy programs.

To be considered for funding, organizations must submit a Letter of Intent. Please submit the following information in a one-page Letter of Intent (250 words maximum):

Primary contact: Name, address, phone # and email
A snapshot of your organization, including:
- Mission statement
- Number of professional staff and volunteers
- Geographic region served by your programs ; and
- Programming provided to children, adolescents and their families
A brief description of how funds from HFA would be used

Letters should be submitted via email to grants@@hospicefoundation.org by Wednesday, March 10. Letters will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Selected organizations will be invited to submit a full proposal, which will be due on Wednesday, April 21. Organizations will be notified about funding by June 15.

Webinar Series on Grieving Children and Adolescents

Almost 875,000 children and adolescents have experienced the death of a parent, and over 1.8 million children are dealing with the loss of a sibling. HFA's Webinar Series will discuss research and interventions to help young people dealing with these losses, as well as the myriad of other losses they may experience. HFA's live online webinar series includes:

Bereaved Children and Adolescents: Lessons from Research on Wednesday, April 14. Panelists will include J. William Worden, Co-Principal Investigator for the Harvard Child Bereavement Study and Irwin N. Sandler, Researcher on the Family Bereavement Program, Arizona State University.
Grieving Children and Adolescents: The Role of Internet Support on Tuesday, June 15. Panelists will include Pamela Gabbay of the Mourning Star Center and National Alliance of Grieving Children and Carla Sofka, associate professor of social work at Siena College in New York, who has written extensively on grieving youth and technology.

(note: The live webinars will take place from 1pm-2:30pm ET.)
The archived version HFA's most recent webinar, Bereavement Camps for Kids: Benefits and Challenges, is now available on-demand.

Register for the series here. The Organization Registration Fee for the three-part series is $250, which allows access to both the live webcast and an archived online program for one year past the live webinar, with unlimited complimentary CEs (1.5 hours) available for a wide range of professions. If purchased separately, the Organization Fee is $100 per program. Individuals may register for each webinar for $35 and 1.5 hours of CE credit is included for the registered individual. To learn more about this exciting educational offering, contact HFA at 800-854-3402 or see the website.

HFA is grateful to the support of The Moyer Foundation for its sponsorship of this series. The Moyer Foundation offers encouragement, comfort and support to children in distress; the Foundation created and funds Camp Erin, the largest network of bereavement camps in the country for children and teens who are grieving a significant loss.

HFA's 17th Annual National Teleconference: Cancer and End-of-Life Care

Since its inception, hospice has provided highly valued and needed care for many patients and families facing terminal cancer. Malignant cancer remains the primary reason for hospice admission, accounting for 41.3 percent of all U.S. hospice patients in 2007. But as death rates from cancer decline, as new treatments emerge, and as the language around the imperative to "win the battle" over cancer becomes louder, how is the relationship between cancer and hospice changing?

The 2010 teleconference, focusing on Cancer and End-of-Life Care, will address care options as well as loss and grief reactions for patients, families and professional caregivers. The teleconference will also address psychosocial aspects of cancer, communication with patients, pain management, and ethical issues related to the disease. The program will include discussions of: The Transition to Palliative Care; Care of Dying Persons dealing with Cancer; Professional, Volunteer and Caregiver Needs; and the Aftermath of Cancer Death. The program will be moderated by Frank Sesno, Director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University, and will feature this expert panel:

Yvette Colón, PhD, MSW, Director of Education and Support, American Pain Foundation;
Malene Smith Davis, CHPN, MBA, President and CEO, Capital Hospice;
Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, College of New Rochelle and Senior Consultant, HFA;
Richard Payne, MD, Director, Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life;
Sherry Schachter, PhD, FT, Director of Bereavement Services Calvary Hospital/Hospice;
Brad Stuart, MD, Senior Medical Director, Sutter VNA & Hospice.

Plenty of Time Left to Register for 2010 Teleconference

Registration continues for HFA's 17th annual Teleconference, Living With Grief®: Cancer and End-of-Life Care, which will be broadcast live-via-webcast and satellite on Wednesday, March 24, 2010. Register online now or by mail/fax with this form.

Please note: If you have downloaded a teleconference registration form from HFA before October 30, please download HFA's current forms with updated address. Remember to check out HFA's new Registration Bonus Package!

All site coordinators receive a complimentary Site Coordinator's Manual and a review copy of the 2010 Cancer and End of Life Care book written by experts. View the book's Table of Contents.

Attention Site Coordinators: The teleconference program is now available for download on the site coordinator's page on HFA's website! Check your recent Teleconference E-Newsletter for more information.

What’s New @ HFA’s Hospice and Caregiving Blog

HFA’s Hospice and Caregiving Blog gathers and disseminates information useful to professionals and consumers from a single destination. Our goals are to inform, offer support, and generate online comments about important end-of life issues. Read some of the blog’s most recent postings:

Subscribe to the Hospice and Caregiving blog feed.

Upcoming Conferences

The Association for Death Education and Counseling offers a monthly webinar series featuring experts in the field of death education. See a listing of their spring offerings.

Go to the E-Newsletter Archives.

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