HFA's E-Newsletter - June 2010

Volume 10, Issue 6

---

In this issue:  

• Message from Amy Tucci, President and CEO
• Focus on: HFA Cares: Our New Hospice Information Center
• HFA Announces New Funding Awards
• Past Webinars Available On-Demand
• What's New @ HFA's Hospice and Caregiving Blog
• Upcoming Conferences and Educational Opportunities 

Message from Amy Tucci, President and CEO

Even as hospice usage grows, we are reminded almost daily that too often, appropriate patients reach hospice with only a few days left or never receive hospice care at all. A recent Associated Press article reported what we who work in the world of hospice already know.
 
This week I spoke with a Pennsylvania woman with advanced lymphoma whose doctor, after several rounds of unsuccessful chemotherapy, has never mentioned next steps. At home and in a wheelchair, she asked me in a tired and weak voice, "How do I qualify for hospice? Who can I call?"  Her cry for help reminded of another recent conversation with a woman whose mother was dying from pancreatic cancer, and who had just undergone major surgery. Before leaving on his vacation, the surgeon had dropped by her mother's room. "He told me he wanted her to be eating steak when he got back," the daughter told me, fighting back tears. At this point, her 80-year-old mother's condition was rapidly declining, she had been in the hospital for weeks, and she had a feeding tube. "My mom just wants to go home. Why hasn't the doctor mentioned hospice?" the daughter asked me.
 
At Hospice Foundation of America, we know that a complex set of barriers can keep people from hospice care. One obstacle that can be overcome, however, is a lack of information. With the help of funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, HFA has created the Hospice Information Center, an online resource center for those who want to learn more about hospice care and other areas of the dying and grieving process. Please visit our website at http://www.hospicefoundation.org/infocenter and take advantage of these new materials. They are wonderful resources for families, patients, volunteers and professionals who are just entering hospice work.

Back to top

Focus On: HFA Cares: Our New Hospice Information Center

Hospice Foundation of America's new Hospice Information Center offers a range of online resources for families, friends and professionals. This centralized resource is part of  "HFA CARES: Hospice Foundation of America's Conversations, Advice, Resources and Education Series," funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and can be found on HFA's website at http://www.hospicefoundation.org/infocenter.

The Hospice Information Center provides information about hospice care and other aspects of end of life, such as caregiving, grief, and palliative care. The online resource area offers opportunities to: 

• Listen to the Voices of people who have experienced hospice, who work in hospice, and other experts who work in the area of grief and bereavement.
• Educate Yourself and Others about the basics of hospice care, grief, and caregiving. Online presentations are available to access information in a convenient, user-friendly format; free CEs are available for some programs.
• Read and Share Resources on end-of-life care, hospice, and grief and bereavement. HFA has developed one-page Fact Sheets on many topics. Print resources are also available in Spanish, and materials in Chinese and Vietnamese will be available soon.  
• Ask HFA questions about hospice care, caregiving, and grief.

The resources in the Hospice Information Center make it easier for family and friends to learn about hospice and how it can help people cope with some of life's most challenging situations, in a format that is accessible and understandable. The programming also provides hospices and other community organizations the opportunity to educate staff and volunteers about the basics of hospice care, caregiving, and grief. Brochures are available to download and share, and links are provided to guide viewers to more information on a variety of subjects.

This project is provided through the support of a grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to support hospice and end-of-life care outreach and education. CMS funds of $571,000 with HFA in-kind services of $5,710 are funding a variety of outreach and educational programs, including this project.

Back to top

HFA Announces Funding Awards

HFA recently awarded funding to three hospices that offer innovative programming to support grieving adolescents. Each year when we offer these funding opportunities, we are reminded about the extraordinary work that hospices and other organizations offer to their communities. We are pleased to announce our newest grantees, all of whom are finding new and creative ways to reach out to a diverse group of young people:

• Hospice of Santa Cruz County in Scotts Valley, CA, to support a new school-based outreach model intended to more effectively reach and serve Latino teens, using the H.U.G. (Health Understanding of Grief) Program ($10,000).
• Mesilla Valley Hospice in Las Cruces, NM, to support the provision of grief counseling services to the Hatch Valley Municipal School District's middle and high schools ($1,000).
• Hospice of Wake County in Raleigh, NC, to support Across the Continuum, a new after-school support program for young people with chronically ill parents ($1,000).

Back to top

Past Webinars Available On-Demand

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 discusses research and interventions to help young people dealing with these losses, as well as the myriad of other losses they may experience.  The archived versions of  HFA's most recent webinars: Bereaved Children and Adolescents: Lessons from Research; Bereavement Camps for Kids: Benefits and Challenges; and Bereaved Children and Adolescents: The Role of Internet Support, are now available on-demand. 
 
Register here. The Organization Registration Fee for the three-part series is $250, which allows access to an archived online program for one year following each original live air date, 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 our website.

Back to top

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 recent postings:

• Providing Medical Care for Senior Couples Together
• The Grieving Spouse
• Cancer and Adolescent Grief
• The Death We Want vs. The Death We Get

Subscribe to the Hospice and Caregiving blog feed and follow HFA on Twitter.

Back to top

Upcoming Conferences and Educational Opportunities

Go to the E-Newsletter Archives.

Sign up for our E-Newsletter