Hospice Foundation of America E-Newsletter
March 2004
Hospice Foundation of America E-Newsletters
Volume 4, Issue 3
March 2004
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Message from David Abrams, President
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One of the major contributions that hospice has made to the field of end-of-life care has been in the area of pain management. Hospice researchers, clinicians and educators have developed and shared information, and dispelled myths about pain control for both professionals and consumers. We are pleased to share with you a discussion with a true leader in this field, Kathleen Foley, MD. Through her work as a physician, an educator, and an innovator, Dr. Foley has helped to elevate the care that patients receive at the end of life, and has been instrumental in bringing significant change to the management of pain in hospitals and other institutional settings.
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Focus on: A Discussion with Dr. Kathleen Foley
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In 1981, Dr. Foley was appointed chief of the newly formed Pain Service within the Department of Neurology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. It was the first designated pain service in a cancer center in the United States. Dr. Foley has focused her career on the assessment and treatment of patients with cancer pain. She has defined the epidemiology, classified the common causes and defined the common pain syndromes that occur in this patient population. With her colleagues, she has developed scientific guidelines for the treatment of cancer pain with analgesic drug therapy through clinical pharmacologic studies of opioid drugs. For her work Dr. Foley was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science. She is currently Director of the Project on Death in America of the Open Society Institute, a project that has focused on transforming the culture of death in America through funding initiatives in research, scholarship, and clinical care.
We spoke with Dr. Foley about the changes she has seen in pain management, and the challenges that healthcare professionals still face; the organizations that can help patients and families become stronger advocates for good pain management; and the future of end-of-life funding in the United States.
William Lamers, M.D., Medical Consultant to the Hospice Foundation of America, has developed some interesting documents on pain. "Pain Through the Ages" shares some insights on pain from a variety of sources; "Common Myths on Pain'" confronts common misconceptions about pain and pain management.
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"Because You Asked"
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Hospice Foundation of America is pleased to have Rabbi Earl Grollman contribute a regular column to "Journeys," HFA's monthly bereavement newsletter. In conjunction with the upcoming National Bereavement Teleconference, "Living With Grief: Alzheimer's Disease," Rabbi Earl Grollman writes about the spiritual and emotional challenges of "Facing the Future with Alzheimer's Disease."
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Locate a Teleconference Site
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If you are an individual interested in attending the HFA annual Teleconference broadcast in April, you can locate a site in your area.
Please be sure to contact the local site coordinator listed for information about attending the teleconference at his or her location. Some sites have limited space and a reservation must be made with the local site coordinator. Individual attendees do not need to register with Hospice Foundation of America.
If there is no site listed in your area, check back as new sites are added regularly.
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Site Coordinator's Corner
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The Satellite Coordinates for the 2004 Teleconference have been posted to the Site Coordinator's page of the HFA website, which can be accessed with your teleconference user name and password. Please be sure to pass the satellite information along to your technician as soon as possible.
The Continuing Education packets for the 2004 Teleconference are also on the Site Coordinator's page of the HFA website. HFA offers a wide range of CEs for a number of professions. Providing CEs at your site on the day of the program is easy and will help draw professionals to your site. Please be sure to read the CE instructions carefully. Remember: Book orders with payment are due by April 2.
Each site coordinator will be sent a complementary copy this week, and additional books can be purchased at a substantial discount. An order form can be found in the Site Coordinator's Manual.
In mid-April, each site will automatically receive 50 copies of the printed Teleconference Program. If more copies are needed, you will be able to download the pdf version from the site coordinators page.
If you have questions or concerns about your registration, please call us at 800-854-3402 or send an email to telecon@hospicefoundation.org.
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F.Y.I.
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The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization is launching a new training program designed for hospice professionals. The Hospice Manager Development Program (Hospice MDP) will not only expand current knowledge but also provide an intensive training program rooted in hospice values. For more information, or to request a copy of the Hospice MDP brochure, please contact the NHPCO Professional Education Office at 703-837-1500.
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This newsletter is sent to more than 6,540 subscribers on
the 2nd Wednesday of 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
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This newsletter is published by Hospice Foundation
of America
1621 Connecticut Ave., NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20009
Jack D. Gordon, Chairman
David Abrams, President
http://www.hospicefoundation.org
© Hospice Foundation of America 2004
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