Experts & Educators
We are a hub for the country’s most distinguished hospice and grief experts, researchers, and professionals. HFA experts help to inform and educate on a wide range of timely and relevant topics essential to best practice.
Our HFA educators are well known and widely recognized as experts in their fields.
They’re researchers with decades of knowledge backed by evidenced-based studies.
They’re professionals who have honed their skills with years of patient and family care.
HFA has been privileged to include many notable experts in its professional education offerings over the past 30 years, including the late Earl. A Grollman; Nancy Hogan, RN, PhD; Karla Holloway, PhD; the late William M. Lamers, MD; the late Richard E. Payne, MD.
Below is a complete listing of our presenters and authors from 2020 onward. We are grateful for their willingness to share their expertise to advance hospice and bereavement care through HFA.
HFA’s 2025 Living with Grief® program highlights interventive, creative, and adjunct evidence-based strategies used to assist dying patients and their intimate networks find meaning, value, and comfort. End-of-life care providers from across the country will share insights into programs such as pet therapy, art and music therapy, and the use of virtual reality, which improve the dying experience, offering patients and their networks enhanced quality care, an improved perception of care, and the amelioration of grief. Hospice providers, in turn, may benefit from satisfied clients, recognition in their communities, and enhanced staff morale.
Click here to watch a sneak peek!
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Stephen Connor is the executive director of the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA) with 485 organizational members in over 100 countries. Connor has worked in palliative care continuously as a researcher, licensed clinical health psychologist, consultant, author, educator, advocate, and executive. For 11 years he was VP for research and professional development at NHPCO….
Charles Corr has been teaching and writing in the field of death, dying, and bereavement since 1975. He is a long-term member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement (IWG), and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), and is currently Senior Editor…
Jill Costello is the Program Coordinator for Hospice Savannah’s Edel Caregiver Institute, connecting family caregivers with community resources while providing education and emotional support. Holding a master’s in counseling psychology from Trevecca University in Nashville, TN, Jill is also certified in her work with persons living with dementia and their caregivers through Teepa Snow’s Positive…
Sheila Crane recently joined the Compassionate Care WNC (CCWNC) team as the new office manager. She is a lifelong fitness and yoga instructor and looks forward to sharing her organizational skills and passion for helping others with CCWNC’s many patients and families.
Elizabeth Crunk is a psychotherapist, educator, and researcher who maintains a private practice in Washington, DC. She specializes in treating adults who are bereaved or who have experienced a loss, with particular expertise in treating complications in grieving. Prior to establishing her practice, Crunk served as assistant professor of counseling at The George Washington University….
Randall Curtis was a pulmonary and critical care physician and palliative medicine physician at Harborview Medical Center at the University of Washington. Curtis held the A. Bruce Montgomery- American Lung Association Endowed Chair in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and was the founding Director of the Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence at the University…
Terri Daniel is an end-of-life educator, interspiritual hospice chaplain, and grief counselor. She is certified in death, dying and bereavement by the Association of Death Education and Counseling and in family-focused grief therapy by The Portland Institute. Daniel conducts workshops throughout the US and is an adjunct instructor in thanatology and chaplaincy at Marian University,…
Kimberly Dansie is Vice President of Community Outreach at Community Nursing Service Home Health and Hospice, West Valley City, UT. Kimberly is passionate about improving the final years of Seniors and has worked towards that goal as a healthcare executive in the post-acute space for over 30 years. She earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree…
Brian de Vries is professor emeritus of gerontology at San Francisco State University with an adjunct appointment at Simon Fraser University (in Vancouver). He is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), past Board member of the American Society on Aging (ASA), and former co-chair of the LGBTQ Aging Issues Network constituent group….
Monica Delaney is an art therapist and licensed professional counselor. She has worked in pediatric hospice and children’s grief counseling since 2018. Prior to that, she had experience with children and adults receiving organ transplants, in outpatient oncology/hematology, and in private practice, as well as with children and teens with emotional and behavioral disabilities. She…
Thom Dennis is the creator of the Grief River® model. With over 30 years of experience supporting individuals and families as they navigate their way through some of life’s most turbulent and troubled waters, Dennis brings real-world, practical knowledge applicable to all interdisciplinary team members working in hospice and palliative care. With a professional career immersed in pastoral care…
Kenneth Doka is Senior Vice President of Grief Programs at Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) and the recipient of the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). He is professor emeritus, the Graduate School of The College of New Rochelle. A prolific author and editor, Doka serves as editor of HFA’s Living…
Whether you’re a patient, family member, or a friend trying to determine whether hospice is the right choice, HFA is here. We provide guidance before, during, and after the important decisions are made.
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