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HFA Announces 2018 Living with Grief® Program

WASHINGTON, August 1—Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) announced on Tuesday that the 25th anniversary of its annual Living with Grief® program will examine the topic of personal growth through the experience of grief in Transforming Loss: Finding Potential for Growth, a 90-minute inspirational program about change and hope.

Set to premiere on March 19, 2018, Transforming Loss will focus on post-traumatic growth, defined as “positive change experienced as a result of the struggle with a major life crisis or traumatic event” by the Posttraumatic Growth Research Group, based at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Transforming Loss will include interviews with people who have achieved post-traumatic growth and both clinical and self-help tools to support growth through grief. The program is appropriate for professionals who support the bereaved and anyone who has been affected by loss.

This is the 25th consecutive year that HFA has educated audiences nationwide with its Living with Grief® program, which each year takes on a new topic in the area of grief and bereavement or end-of-life care. Over the years, the program has addressed the topics of veterans, spirituality, diversity, children adolescents, ethics and Alzheimer’s disease. HFA publishes a companion book with each program, written by experts. Both the program and book have won numerous awards.

“We wanted to do something very special to note the 25th anniversary of the Living with Grief® program,” said Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, MDiv, a panelist for Transforming Loss who has played a role in the development of 24 consecutive Living with Grief® programs. Dr. Doka is a senior bereavement consultant to HFA, a professor of gerontology at the Graduate School of The College of New Rochelle (NY), and an internationally known grief expert.

“It is especially fitting that on our silver anniversary we focus on the possibilities of growth in grief—exploring both the types of growth that can be achieved and strategies that both professional and bereaved individuals can employ to grow, even in the midst of grief,” Dr. Doka said.

Alongside Dr. Doka, Transforming Loss will feature grief experts Patti Anewalt, PhD, LPC, FT, and Richard Tedeschi, PhD, as panelists and Frank Sesno, former CNN anchor and Director of the School of Media and Public Affairs, as its moderator. Dr. Anewalt, Director of the Pathways Center for Grief & Loss with Hospice & Community Care in Mount Joy, PA, has devoted her clinical practice, writing, and teaching to issues related to end of life, grief, compassion fatigue, and crisis response. Dr. Tedeschi is a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he specializes in bereavement and trauma as part of the Posttraumatic Growth Research Group. He also serves as a consultant to the American Psychological Association and is a subject matter expert for the US Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program.

“When HFA conceived its first Living with Grief® program 25 years ago, we had hoped to reach perhaps 50 people in 50 different communities—2,500 professionals,” HFA Board Member and former HFA President David Abrams said. “We were shocked when we wound up with 100,000 attendees one year. This is a testament to the need for high quality education in grief and bereavement, a need that HFA is proud to have met and will continue to meet in the future.”

This year’s Living with Grief® lends a special opportunity to organizations work with or support the hospice and palliative care fields. As a part of this silver anniversary, HFA is offering sponsorship for Transforming Loss, which provides a platform for leaders in the field of end-of-life care and grief to demonstrate their commitment to the values of hospice and bereavement support. Sponsorships include a registration for the program, making it an ideal registration opportunity for organizations that traditionally present the program. For more information on sponsorships and registration, click here.

For more information about Transforming Loss: Finding Potential for Growth or sponsorship opportunities, please email info@hospicefoundation.org or call 800-854-3402