HFA's E-Newsletter - April/May 2011

Volume 11, Issue 4/5

In this issue:  

• Message from Amy Tucci, President and CEO
• Focus on: Professional and Consumer Education 
• Spirituality and Meaning-Making: A More In-Depth Look
• What's New @ HFA's Hospice and Caregiving Blog
• Upcoming Conferences and Educational Opportunities

Message from Amy Tucci, President and CEO

On Friday, I spoke to two hospice CEOs dealing with the aftermath of the Alabama tornadoes. Rhonda Osborne, past president of the Alabama Hospice Organization (AHO), was up to her arms in laundry, having taken load after load to wash because there was no electricity at the inpatient hospice she oversees. Another, Deb Stark, president of the AHO, was trying to coordinate getting gasoline to hospice workers. With pumps not working, it was an hour's drive to the nearest working station, Stark said, so she was trying to procure five-gallon gasoline containers for hospice workers.

The deaths and injuries associated with these recent storms have understandably garnered great attention. Yet such disasters are a financial and operational strain for all, and particularly for hospices that rely heavily on electricity, water, and transportation. HFA has pledged a $5,000 grant to help hospices with unanticipated financial needs that Alabama hospices face in the midst of this disaster. In addition, for two weeks HFA will match individual donations made to HFA up to $100 to help with relief efforts. Although casualties from the recent tornadoes are concentrated in one geographic area of the U.S., please understand there may be friends or relatives anywhere in the U.S. who will need support as a result of these storms. HFA can provide materials and instruction for hospices wishing to reach out to their community members who may be affected by the losses in the Southeast - particularly Alabama. HFA has a history of helping in disasters, most recently helping the California Hospice Association with a $5000 grant following the California wildfires and providing almost $20,000 to the Louisiana and Mississippi Hospice and Palliative Care Organization for relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina.

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Focus on: Professional and Consumer Education 

While HFA's mission centers around hospice care, HFA's resources and programming extend beyond what might be considered "typical" topics, and often can offer information and advice on topics "in the news."

--Recently The Alzheimer's Association and the National Institute on Aging updated the guidelines used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease for the first time since 1984. Larry King also hosted an extensive program on CNN about Alzheimer's disease, with information and real-life stories about the impact of this disease. Yet many people are surprised to learn that hospice is available to help care for people in the end stages of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. HFA recently developed a free program focusing on "Alzheimer's Disease and Hospice Care" that explores the hospice option for persons with advanced dementia.

--Discussions continue at the federal and state level about paying for health care and Medicare. Here at HFA, one of the most common questions we receive from families is, "but how are we going to pay for hospice care?" It is essential that consumers understand how hospice is currently funded under the Medicare Hospice Benefit; HFA has developed a new short video that hospices and other groups can use to quickly educate families about some of the basics of this important benefit.

--A recent email from a hospice professional in Oregon noted the increasing Chinese-American population in her community. HFA was glad to be able to share free brochures on Hospice, Grief, and Pain Management written in Chinese that she used to provide resources and information to a local clergy member and others.

Ongoing education has a strong impact on the information and support that patients and families need at the end of life, as well as providing insight and support to the many helping professionals and volunteers who work with families every day. HFA recently released its annual Living With Grief program, "Spirituality and End-of-Life Care," on DVD, and it's been seen in more than 850 communities so far. If you participated in the program, either as a Site Coordinator or as an audience member, thank you! Please take some time to answer these quick surveys to help us as we continue our planning for future programs.

Our next program will return to the live, interactive format this fall, focusing on "Beyond Kübler-Ross: New Perspectives on Death, Dying and Grief." Stay tuned for a program date, transmission information and registration.

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Spirituality and Meaning-Making: A More In-Depth Look

As part of HFA's annual educational program focusing on these issues, HFA will offer three live webinars addressing aspects of spirituality at life's end in greater depth. Webinars will be accessible to registrants for a year after their live air dates.

On the programs, Ken Doka and other experts will look at spiritual meaning making at the end of life, utilizing techniques such as Reminiscence and Life Review, as well as other meaning-making approaches such as Dignity Enhancement Therapies and Living Eulogies. Another program will look more closely at how to assist clients coping with spiritual distress at the end of life.

The webinars are a great way for organizations to offer additional programming for staff and community members on these important issues. The programs will be aired on May 11, June 8 and July 13, from 1-2:30pm ET, and then available online for one year after the original live air dates. Free CE's for professionals are included, for the first week after each start date, and are only $5/participant after that date. Learn more.

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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:

• You Don't Have to Believe in Heaven to Find Life after Death 
• Helping Children Spiritually Cope with Dying and Death 
• Building a Successful Hospice Volunteer Program  

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

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The University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse will hold its annual International Death, Grief and Bereavement Conference on June 6-8, 2011, focusing on Men and Grief. Conference topics will include: Spousal loss/loss of child;; bereavement-like losses (e.g. job, identity, marriage etc); Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the war; and gender differences and/or similarities in grieving . For more information, go to www.uwlax.edu/conted/dgb.

This newsletter is sent to over 8,000 subscribers every month to keep you informed of what is happening in the fields of hospice, grief and bereavement, and caregiving, as well as what's new at HFA. Privacy Statement: In no case will we share e-mail addresses. See the full text of HFA's Privacy Policy.

This newsletter is published by Hospice Foundation of America
Amy Tucci, President and CEO
http://www.hospicefoundation.org
© Hospice Foundation of America 2011

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