HFA's E-Newsletter - December 2010
Volume 10, Issue 12
In this issue:
- Message from Amy Tucci, President and CEO
- Focus on: Spiritual Meaning-Making at the End of Life
- Maria Shriver on Hospice
- Living With Grief 2011
- Bonus Features for the Living With Grief 2011 Program?
- The Hospice Information Center
- What's New @ HFA's Hospice and Caregiving Blog
- Upcoming Conferences and Educational Opportunities
Message from Amy Tucci, President and CEO
This time of year is often one for reminiscing, for looking back at what the year has brought and what may lie ahead. That process has relevance this month in our interview with Ken Doka. Dr. Doka has been a panelist on our Living With Grief® program since its inception 17 years ago. In our interview, he talks more about the process of reminiscing and other approaches, and how those processes can bring spiritual meaning at the end of life. He also discusses how the program has developed, and some of the new opportunities it will bring in 2011.
One exciting opportunity is a new interactive component that we've added. Has your audience always wanted to ask a Living With Grief® panelist about something he or she said during the program but never had the chance? In 2011, we'll make that opportunity available to learn more from the experts, share reactions with other sites, and have your audience questions answered in conjunction with the Living With Grief® program. See below for more information.
And as this year draws to a close, we want to take a moment to thank our readers and HFA supporters. Whether you donated money to support hospice care; participated in one of our professional development webinars; coordinated a site for the Living With Grief program; or received one of our bereavement publications, the time and talents that you give to dying persons and their loved ones has made an impact this year, and we are grateful.
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Focus on: Spritual Meaning-Making at the End of Life
Dr. Kenneth Doka has been a leader in the field of grief and bereavement for many years. In addition to his international work on the subject, he is also an ordained Lutheran minister. In a recent interview, Dr. Doka discussed the places where end-of-life care and spirituality intersect, and both the opportunities and challenges that that perspective provides. He notes that, "When spirituality is defined broadly, it can be an important component of how one makes sense about what is happening at the end of life, and bring meaning to the life that someone has lived."
Maria Shriver on Hospice
Many hospices across the country have already posted on their website the public service announcement that Maria Shriver recorded as part of a larger project she is doing with HFA on "Understanding Grief." The PSA is available here at no charge. The program, "Understanding Grief," is almost complete; we'll have more information on that soon. Shriver, currently First Lady of California and a former NBC News Correspondent, has a keen interest in the subject. In addition to her own personal experiences as a member of the Kennedy family, she has written a children's book on grief, and grief was the centerpiece of her annual Women's Conference in California in 2009.
The online version of the Hospice PSA is available for download, and two broadcast versions (:30 and :60) also are available that can be customized (by the provider) to include local contact information.
Spirituality and End-of-Life Care will discuss the differences and relationship between spirituality and religion, while also addressing spirituality during illness, death and grief; spiritual assessment and empowerment, and life review. The program will feature a distinguished panel of experts, including:
- Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, MDiv, Professor of Gerontology at The College of New Rochelle
- Gary S. Fink, DMin, Chaplain and Dementia Project Coordinator at Montgomery Hospice, and Adjunct Faculty at Hood College Graduate School
- Carolyn Jacobs, PhD, MSW, Dean and Elizabeth Marting Treuhaft Professor at Smith College, School for Social Work
- Betty Kramer, PhD, MSSW, Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Social Work
- Reinette Powers Murray, MSN, CNS, RN, Consultant to The Peaceful Journey-End-of-Life Process program, and certified as a Train-the-Trainer for End-of-Life Nursing Education (ELNEC)
- Martha Rutland, DMin, BCC, ACPE, Director of Clinical Pastoral Education at VITAS Innovative Hospice Care
Bonus Features for Living With Grief 2011
For the first time, HFA's Living with Grief® educational program, Spirituality and End-of-Life Care will be distributed on DVD. Instead of asking your organization to commit to participating in one live broadcast of the program, the DVD gives you the flexibility to schedule your event at a time most convenient to your audience, and allows you the additional opportunity to repeat the program throughout the year. The program will also be available at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time on April 13 as a webcast for registered sites. However, all sites will receive a DVD of the program. The program can be shown beginning April 13, 2011.
Register by December 31 and save 15% off the $100 registration fee, or save $20 by ordering the Bonus Package.
New educational opportunities are included in the low cost of registering:
- A bonus package that will include three webinars in late Spring/early Summer of 2011, allowing audiences to explore specific topics in more detail, including:
Leaving Legacies--Spiritual Meaning Making at the End-of-Life, including Reminiscence and Life Review,
Dignity Enhancement Therapies, Living Eulogies and Other Meaning-Making Approaches;
and The Dark Night of the Soul: Assisting Clients Coping with Spiritual Distress at the End-of-Life. Continuing Education Credits will be available at no cost for these webinars.
An option for your audience to speak with several panel members who will be available by telephone on April 13. Four call-in times are available for your organization to spend up to an hour with three of Hospice Foundation of America's Spirituality and End-of-Life Care panel members! Use this opportunity for your local discussion (required for CE credit), or simply use this as an opportunity to learn more from the experts, share reactions with other sites, and have your audience questions answered. Approximately 12 sites will be on each conference call.
You must be registered for the program to request a slot and slots are available in the order they are requested. Preference, therefore, will be given to sites that register early. If demand exceeds available slots, HFA will consider adding additional call-in times. For more info, contact Kristen Baker, Manager of Continuing Education at kbaker@hospicefoundation.org, or contact us at 800-854-3402 . Space is limited, so reserve your time today!
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The Hospice Information Center
HFA's newest online tutorial focuses on "Coping with Cancer at the End of Life." When cancer treatment becomes ineffective, patients and families face highly emotional and very difficult decisions. This program discusses the impact that terminal cancer has on both the person with cancer and those closest to him or her. Free Continuing Education Credits (CEs) are available for this program and others at the Hospice Information Center.
Hospice Foundation of America (HFA)'s Hospice Information Center offers a range of online resources for families, friends and professionals. This centralized resource is funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and can be found on HFA's website at http://www.hospicefoundation.org/infocenter.
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:
- Emergency Departments and Palliative Care
- What Do Hospice Nurses Do?
- Language Matters: Do Not Resuscitate vs Allow Natural Death
- What Do Hospice Social Workers Do?
Subscribe to the Hospice and Caregiving blog feed and follow HFA on Twitter.
Upcoming Conferences and Educational Opportunities
The Cleveland Clinic will host the 14th International Palliative Medicine and Supportive Oncology 2011 Symposium on March 10-12, 2011. To be added to their information list, please go to: www.ccfcme.org/pm2011
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