Hospice Foundation of America
E-Newsletter
Volume 6, Issue 3
March 2006
http://www.hospicefoundation.org

 Message from David Abrams, President

On April 5, HFA will broadcast its thirteenth annual National Bereavement Teleconference, “Pain Management at the End of Life: Bridging the Gap between Knowledge and Practice.” The teleconference has come to be recognized as the leading training program on end-of-life issues in North America, having reached over three quarters of a million professionals in communities across the US, Canada, and the Caribbean. We thank everyone who has participated in the past and those who plan to join us this year. To locate a site near you, please click here. This year’s topic is one that has the potential to touch us all either professionally or personally in the near future, and we thank those site coordinators who are bringing it into their communities. We also want to thank the national organizations that are providing HFA with support. We invite you to think of ways to spread the word about the program and encourage participation in your community; you can find some ideas on our website.

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Focus on: A Discussion with Pamela Bennett and Dr. Lisa Miller

In a recent planning meeting for HFA’s teleconference, the panelists reiterated the points that good pain management is a shared responsibility between health care professionals and consumers. A recent discussion with Pamela Bennett and Dr. Lisa Miller, both of Purdue Pharma, touched on both the progress that has been made, and the challenges that are still faced, for all of those committed to providing good pain management. Read more to learn about the essential tools that all health care professionals need, as well as ways for persons with pain to speak out and make change.

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News from the Hospice World

In January, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in the case of Gonzales v. Oregon that Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law was constitutional. The ruling stated that the United States Attorney General could not enforce the Controlled Substances Act against physicians prescribing drugs for the assisted suicide of the terminally ill as permitted by an Oregon law. This case highlighted many of the concerns about the enforcement of regulatory barriers that can prohibit professionals from providing good pain management. In response to the ruling, the Oregon Hospice Association comments that, “Countless studies confirm that regulatory scrutiny has a chilling impact on pain management. Countless studies identify the undertreatment of pain as a crisis in our country. Adding another layer of regulatory scrutiny, by granting the Attorney General of the United States the authority to interpret the legitimate practice of medicine under the Controlled Substances Act, would have compounded the problem.”  Read the full statement here.

Six months have passed since Hurricane Katrina made landfall at the Louisiana/Mississippi Gulf Coast, and four months since Hurricane Rita struck the western coast of Louisiana, setting in motion the evacuation of over 2 million residents of both states and scattering at least 1785 hospice patients from the region into unknown parts of the country. Jamey Boudreaux, Executive Director of the Louisiana and Mississippi Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, shared this update of their progress. The assessment provides a glimpse into the devastation within the hospice community suffered throughout south Louisiana and Mississippi.

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What’s New @ HFA

Hospice Foundation of America in April will introduce www.hospicedirectory.org , an online resource center connecting hospice consumers and referral sources to North American hospices. This easy-to-use, searchable database lists thousands of hospices and allows hospices to provide a profile of their services for website viewers. There is no cost for hospices to register.

On Thursday, March 2, Hospice Foundation of America was featured in a Dear Abby column about hospice care. HFA is grateful that the positive messages of hospice received such a wide audience.

For the past 12 years, HFA has distributed our annual teleconference via satellite to hundreds of thousands of viewers. This year, we will be reaching out even further by providing site coordinators the option to show the teleconference via live streaming video webcast on April 5. Please note that the video webcast is only available to sites that register with HFA; to learn more about how to register to receive the webcast, please contact kbaker@hospicefoundation.org

David Abrams, President of HFA, spoke about HFA’s upcoming teleconference and other initiatives in the Pain Advocacy Community e-newsletter in January (PDF).

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Pain Management at the End of Life: Bridging the Gap Between Knowledge and Practice

Hospice Foundation of America would like to thank those organizations that are partnering with us to bring the teleconference to the widest possible audience.

Sponsored by:
• The Foundation for End of Life Care
• Purdue Pharma L.P.
In cooperation with:
• Adventist Communications Network
• Association for Death Education and Counseling
• National Association of Social Workers
• The US Department of Veteran’s Affairs Employee Education System

One goal of HFA’s upcoming teleconference is to connect professionals and consumers with important resources. For the sixth consecutive year, the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs (DVA) Employee Education System and Hospice Foundation of America have collaborated to bring the Living With Grief teleconference series to U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs employees. The DVA Employee Education System is committed to providing its employees with the training and education they need to provide outstanding service to veterans and other eligible customers, and the leadership of the organization is to be commended for inclusion of the award-winning series. Our World War II veterans are dying at the rate of over 1,000 per day. Our Korean and Vietnam War veterans are rapidly reaching the age where they need quality end-of-life care. And now younger veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will challenge the resources of the DVA, and pain control issues show a direct line from the chronically ill and traumatically injured to the dying. The 2006 teleconference will be a significant asset in supporting clinicians of the DVA in their work, and our veterans will be the beneficiaries. In 2005 HFA issued over 700 continuing education certificates to DVA employees. Our goal is to significantly increase that number in this critical area. http://www.va.gov

The panelists for HFA’s upcoming teleconference conducted an intensive set of discussions in January, focusing on the content for the program. Segments will include: Understanding the Barriers to Pain Control; Assessing Pain at the End-of-Life; Pain Management at the End-of-Life; and Pain Management: A Shared Responsibility. The topics are not inclusive, but will help to focus the subsequent planning and actual discussion on the teleconference itself. Throughout the program, interventive strategies and practical suggestions will support the discussion. The panel will include case studies for illustration, and will include cultural issues as they impact on the ethical questions. As always, video clips from families and professionals will enhance the discussions.

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Upcoming Conferences and Educational Opportunities

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) will host its Second Annual Public Policy Forum on “Opioids and Policy: Barriers to Compassionate Care” on Friday, April 7, from 9:00am – 12:00pm in Washington, DC. The Forum will feature nationally-recognized researchers, policy makers and health care experts examining complex and highly misunderstood aspects of opioids. Forum topics include the balance between medical needs and law enforcement objectives, ensuring that the health care community is adequately informed and committed to effective pain care. Issues of opioid availability, both in local drug stores and on the international stage will also be discussed. For information or to register, visit the site or contact Elizabeth Cantrell at 703/647-5163 or ecantrell@nhpco.org.

The American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (ABHPM) has opened registration for the 2006 certification examination for physicians, the last year that ABHPM will offer certifying examinations. The ABHPM will close its certifying program to new applicants after 2006, beginning a smooth transition to the next step in certification of this subspecialty. The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) begins certification of Hospice and Palliative Medicine in 2008. Information on the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, more detail on the transition to ABMS certification, and applications for the November 2006 examination are available on the website or by calling 301/439-8001. Early bird applications deadline are due April 1, 2006. The regular application deadline is May 1, 2006.

The Journal of Religion, Disability, and Health has just published, with Haworth Press, a volume entitled “End of Life Care: Bridging Disability and Aging with Person Centered Care” edited by William Gaventa, M.Div. and David Coulter, M.D. The volume includes articles related to theory, policy, and practice, from people working with people with developmental disabilities and others with family members with Alzheimer’s. It can be ordered from Amazon, but also directly from Haworth Press.

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Site Coordinator’s Corner

The satellite coordinates for this year’s teleconference are now posted. Please view these on the Site Coordinator’s password-protected Web page. Your username and password for this site can be found in your Site Coordinator’s manual, as well as in your confirmation letter that was sent to you via e-mail. Also posted on the site coordinator’s Web site are the Site Coordinator’s Manual, the new online CE Instructions, Agenda, and Media Kit. If you have any questions or difficulties logging onto this site, please contact telecon@hospicefoundation.org, or call 1-800-854-3402.

Congratulations to Tina Collins of Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa. She has won the Site Coordinator drawing for one free box of companion books for this year’s broadcast!

Note: Following the teleconference broadcast, there will be a drawing for cash rewards! All Site Coordinators who have gotten all of their participants to use the HFA online system for CE processing will be eligible. At least three cash awards will be given. Details will be announced in the March Site Coordinator’s e-newsletter.

If you have questions or concerns about your registration, please send an email to telecon@hospicefoundation.org

Go to the E-Newsletter Archives.

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