Hospice Foundation of America
E-Newsletter
Volume 7, Issue 4
April 2007
http://www.hospicefoundation.org
In this issue:
- Message from David Abrams, President/CEO
- Focus on: 2008 HFA National Bereavement Teleconference Living With Grief: Children and Adolescents
- Living With Grief: Before and After the Death
- HFA Celebrates Hospice Volunteers
- News from the Hospice World
- Upcoming Conferences and Educational Opportunities
- Site Coordinator's Corner
Message from David Abrams, President/CEO
On behalf of all of us at HFA, thanks to all of you who participated in our 14th annual National Bereavement Teleconference on March 22. You were joined by more than 100,000 people in over 2,000 communities, both in the United States and internationally. The panelists shared their insights and knowledge, and many excellent resources for professionals were recommended. Please see the Teleconference section below for more information.
And many thanks to our 1,000+ site coordinators who contribute their time and energy in bringing the Living With Grief program to their communities and places of employment. The importance of the work they do in creating communities of shared information is critical to improving our health care system.
April 15-21 is National Volunteer Week. HFA thanks all of you who volunteer your time and talents, or train those who do, in support of people facing illness, death and grief due to loss of loved ones.
Focus on: 2008 HFA National Bereavement Teleconference Living With Grief: Children and Adolescents
HFA is proud to announce that the 2008 program will focus on Living With Grief: Children and Adolescents. The topic of how to help grieving children and adolescents is the single most requested subject through our website and 800#. HFA has published twelve books, including two on children, and both runs of the books have been reprinted and sold out twice.
HFA's 2008 Teleconference will focus on the
experience of grieving children and adolescents and the ways that
hospices, schools, grief counselors, and parents can best support these
populations as they cope with loss and grief. The program and newly
published book will
focus on the newest theories and practices in this area, and as always
will combine academic research with hands-on ideas for use in hospice
support groups and other settings.
Dr. Ken Doka, HFA's Senior Bereavement Consultant, states that, "At the conclusion of this teleconference participants will be able to:
- Describe the situations that might engender grief in children and adolescents as well as the particular ways that grief may be manifested in children and adolescents;
- Describe and evaluate strategies for work with grieving children and adolescents including counseling, support groups, expressive and play therapies, school-based programs, and camp-based programs;
- Discuss effective strategies to empower parents and other support systems, such as schools and faith communities, to assist grieving children and adolescents; and
- Describe the unique issues that grieving children and adolescents pose for professional caregivers and offer strategies for effective self-help and professional support."
Watch this newsletter for more information as our planning continues.
Living With Grief: Before and After the Death
One of the most requested resources from HFA's recent teleconference was information about the Memory Bears, teddy bears made for grieving families from an article of their loved one's clothing. Robin Fiorelli and Lorraine Hedkte from VITAS Innovative Health Care, who oversee this wonderful project, have graciously shared some information for organizations who many be interested in starting a similar program.
The segment highlights of the teleconference provided a useful wrap-up of the information presented. They also include helpful information for professionals about helping those who are grieving, as well as good suggestions about self-care.
The full-length DVD of the 2007 program will be available at the end of April. The one-hour edited DVD will be available after July 1st. Order these helpful educational tools here.
If you attended the teleconference or coordinated a host site, thanks
again! If you haven't done so, we encourage you to take one of our brief
surveys about your experiences; remember, five lucky respondents of each
survey will win a complimentary resource from HFA. But hurry, because
the survey will only be available online until April 18.
Survey
for Participants
Survey
for Site Coordinators
HFA Celebrates Hospice Volunteers!
April 15--21 is National Volunteer Week, and Hospice Foundation of America extends gratitude and appreciation to everyone who serves as a hospice volunteer. Hospice care is the only system of care that includes volunteer service as an integral part of its philosophy, and HFA encourages every hospice to take some time this week to honor those who do this important work.
HFA publishes an excellent brochure that can help both train current volunteers and serve as a recruitment tool. Hospice Volunteers can be ordered in bulk, at discount prices.
For more resources about National Hospice Week, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization offers sample press releases, letters to the editor, and other suggested activities. NOTE: This is for NHPCO members only. Click here.
To download a National Volunteer Week toolkit sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation, go to their website here.
A new study published in the March 2007 issue of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management reports that hospice care may prolong the lives of some terminally ill patients. Among the patient populations studied, the mean survival was 29 days longer for hospice patients than for non-hospice patients. In other words, patients who chose hospice care lived an average of one month longer than similar patients who did not choose hospice care. Sponsored by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, the study was conducted by NHPCO researchers in collaboration with the consulting and actuarial firm, Milliman, Inc.
Upcoming Conferences and Educational Opportunities
The AGES Senior Health Care Department at Synergy Medical Education Alliance in Saginaw, MI will sponsor its 16th Annual Geriatric Conference, "End of Life Care: Negotiating the Path", on May 11. CME/CEU Credit hours are available, as well as Social work CE's. For more information please contact Beth Norton @ (989) 583-6837 or go to the website.
On May 31, the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life will hold a conference titled, "Magnified and Sanctified: Jewish Ritual, Reality, and Response at the End of Life." Physicians, social workers, rabbis, chaplains and scholars will lead more than 15 workshops examining Jewish perspectives on a variety of end-of-life issues. To receive conference alerts, send an email to: iceol@div.duke.edu.
Remember: Site Coordinators ordering the companion book may still receive the reduced price until April 30.
Ordering online is faster and less costly than faxing in your order form! To order online, please use the link found on the Site Coordinator's website. Your username and password may be found on page 3 of your manual. Please keep your Site ID number handy when placing an order.
Order online and save! The discounted price for site coordinators is $14.00 per book (the cover price is $24.95). For site coordinators ordering books in multiples of 20, the price is further reduced to $12.00 per book. If ordering online, an even more discounted rate of $11.00 per book is available.
If you have any questions about the online order form, please contact us at 1-800-854-3402 or via e-mail at telecon@hospicefoundation.org. HFA cannot accept purchase orders. Remember there are no refunds, so please order conservatively.
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.
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
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 2007
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