Hospice Foundation of America
E-Newsletter
Volume 6, Issue 10
October 2006
http://www.hospicefoundation.org
In this issue:
- Message from David Abrams, President/CEO
- Focus on: Grief and the Holidays
- HFA’s 14th Annual National Bereavement Teleconference, Living With Grief®: Before and After the Death
- What's New @ HFA
- News from the Hospice World
- Upcoming Conferences and Educational Opportunities
- Site Coordinator's Corner
Message from David Abrams, President/CEO
Once again school shootings occupy space in our newspapers and airwaves. Even when these sad events don’t impact us personally, the grief and loss that emanate from them impacts us as a community.
Last year at this time, our country was reeling from a national tragedy of a different kind --the devastation of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. We are pleased to feature an update from Jamey Boudreaux, Executive Director of the Louisiana and Mississippi Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. The article serves as a poignant reminder of what a difficult journey grief can be. But in the midst of these tragedies, we honor the important role that trained hospice professionals play every day in walking with their communities through grief and loss.
Over the years, HFA has developed a number of resources that professionals have found to be helpful during situations that are not generally part of typical hospice bereavement services. Our book Living With Grief®: After Sudden Loss, brochures such as Living With Grief®: At School and others may be useful tools. Learn more here.
Focus on: Grief and the Holidays
For many years, HFA has offered advice and practical assistance for grieving persons during the holidays. Some may be grieving a death, while others may be anticipating the impending death of a loved one, knowing the holidays are approaching. We focus on Holidays in the fall because it is the “season” of important holidays for many. Holiday music is played on the radio as early as Halloween, and the message sent out via advertising and other sources is strongly focused on having a “happy” holiday--not always an easy accomplishment for those dealing with grief and loss.
Yet holidays occur throughout the year that can generate grief--Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, summer holidays that were reserved for special family reunions. In a recent interview with HFA, Robin Fiorelli of VITAS Healthcare Corporation talked about how their hospice programs have created over 40 special memorial services, many based around “holiday” times of celebration.
Does your organization have special programs focused on grief and the holidays? What programs have you found to be most helpful in supporting families during this time of often intense pressure to “feel happy”, and what impact have you seen from these programs on the families that you serve?
Please share your information with us by emailing lveglahn@hospicefoundation.org. We in turn will share what we’ve learned in the November newsletter, in celebration of National Hospice Month.Hospice Foundation of America publishes a Holiday issue of our bereavement newsletter, Journeys. The newsletter includes helpful ideas from Ken Doka, Judy Tatelbaum and others about coping with grief during the holidays. It also features a personal story of one woman’s holiday grief experience, The Longest Night by Elizabeth Halling.
Holiday Journeys can be ordered online. Take advantage of our discount prices for purchasing bulk copies. Journeys is an effective tool to maximize your organizational impact at minimal expense.
HFA’s 14th Annual National Bereavement Teleconference, Living With Grief®: Before and After the Death
HFA’s 14th annual National Bereavement Teleconference, Living With Grief®: Before and After the Death, will be broadcast Thursday, March 22, 2007 from 1:30--4:00pm. This teleconference, as well as the accompanying book, will explore the most current theoretical perspectives on loss and grief as experienced by persons throughout a life-limiting illness and by survivors after the death. A particular focus will be paid to areas where understandings of grief have been challenged. The program will be useful to a range of professionals who counsel persons who are bereaved including psychologists, counselors, clergy, social workers, nurses, case managers and other health care workers, and funeral directors, as well as educators, teachers and school-based personnel. The information will also be helpful to individuals who offer education on loss, grief, dying or death.
Frank Sesno, an Emmy-award
winning journalist, special correspondent with CNN and a faculty member
George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, will
moderate the program, which
features panelists:
• Scott W. Bradley, MSW, CT, CFSP
• Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, MDiv
• Lorraine Hedtke, MSW, ACSW, LCSW
• Patricia Murphy, PhD, APN, FAAN
• Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD
• Robert Washington, PhD, MDiv
The panel will examine and
discuss the following topics:
• Anticipatory grief and anticipatory mourning: approaches
that professional caregivers can use to assist patients and families
struggling with loss in life-threatening illness;
• Strategies and interventions that professional caregivers can use at
the moment of death and in funeral rituals to help survivors cope with
loss;
• Ways that our understandings of grief have changed over the last 20
years and how changes have influenced practice;
• Research on the effectiveness of grief interventions;
• The current debate over a new DSM diagnostic category for complicated
grief; and
• Current research and theory on grief reactions of professional
caregivers, and ways that individuals and organizations can effectively
support grieving staff and volunteers.
We encourage you to be a Site Coordinator for this important program. Registration is now open; see the Site Coordinator’s Corner below for more information.
Many HFA readers have commented on the attractive covers of HFA’s teleconference companion books. We have used original graphics, images from 9-11, a sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and a painting by Picasso. For the 2007 companion book we are seeking to utilize artwork from those involved in grief work, whether as patients, therapists or survivors. The winning entry will be displayed on 20,000 book covers and during the teleconference program. Click here for details.
In September 2006 HFA featured an interview with Jamey Boudreaux, Executive Director of the Louisiana and Mississippi Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, shortly after the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. With permission, we are pleased to reprint an article from the August/September LMHPCO’s newsletter The Journal that describes the grief that this type of tragedy can bring, and the powerful role that hospices play in their communities.
One note from Mr. Boudreaux: Last week’s survey of providers reported 2,294 hospice patients living along the coastal parishes and counties.
Upcoming Conferences and Educational Opportunities
The International Death, Grief and Bereavement Conference has issued a Call for Papers. Paper proposals for concurrent sessions (1 1/2 hours each) will be accepted based on the 2007 theme, Learning from the Past and Present, Planning for the Future. The deadline for submission is November 1, 2006. Learn more about the conference and the submission process.
Registration for HFA’s 14th annual National Bereavement Teleconference opened October 4th. This year’s teleconference, Living With Grief®: Before and After the Death, will be broadcast Thursday, March 22, 2007 from 1:30--4:00pm. The fee to register is $25 per downlink site if registered before or on December 20, and $50 if registered after December 20. HFA is pleased to continue to make registration available for this important program at this low rate, to ensure accessibility to the largest possible audience.
ADDED SAVINGS: You may also purchase a copy of the Living With Grief®: Before and After the Death full-length DVD at a $10 savings! The cost of registration, with the DVD, is $40 before or on December 20, and $65 after December 20. Be sure to register early for the greatest savings!
HFA has improved its registration process this year. Once your form and payment is received, you will promptly receive a detailed Site Coordinator’s Manual in the mail and a password to access teleconference materials on our website. Early next year, you will receive your complimentary copy of the teleconference companion book. Please contact us with any questions at 800-854-3402 or via e-mail at telecon@hospicefoundation.org.
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This newsletter is sent to more than 6,600 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 at HFA. We encourage you to forward this e-newsletter to an interest colleague or friend. To subscribe, go to HFA's E-Newsletter sign-up page.
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This newsletter is published by Hospice
Foundation of America
David Abrams, President/CEO
http://www.hospicefoundation.org/
Board of Directors: Thomas E. Bryant, MD, JD; Myra MacPherson; Priscilla Perry; Patricia Spulak; Thomas
Spulak
©
Hospice Foundation of America 2006
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