LIFEline
Updates
from the Kansas LIFE Project
May, 2003
“EVERY KANSAN
SHOULD EXPECT GOOD PAIN MANAGEMENT!”
The Steering
Committee of the LIFE Project Pain Management Task Group is working on
completion of tools for the full implementation of the public campaign
The Steering Committee of the LIFE Project Pain Management Task Group met in Emporia on May 22 to work on finalizing tools for the “Every Kansan should expect good pain management!” toolkit that will be used by LIFE’s Caring Community leaders. The toolkit will include:
- 30 minute video – “Every Kansan should expect good pain management!” (Donna Bales interview on KPTS, December 2002)
- Leader’s guide
- Pain Care Bill of Rights for All Kansans (in English and Spanish)
- Public Service Announcements – three 30-second television spots
- 30 minute video – “Managing Chronic Pain” (produced by the Center on Aging at the University of Kansas Medical Center)
- A Design for Change, issue 3 – “Every Kansan should expect good pain management!” (multi-page consumer-friendly brochure on pain management issues)
- Campaign posters and other materials to increase Kansans’ expectations for good pain management
- Tools for citizens and leaders
- “Faces” pain scale – laminated pocket tool for healthcare professionals
- PowerPoint presentation – “Pain Management: Why Kansans Deserve Excellent Care”
- Media materials from Joint Policy Statement
- Placemats
The LIFE Project knows that eighty-six percent of Kansans
experience moderate to excruciating pain during the last few months of
life. And 45.2% of all Kansans in long-term care facilities live with
persistent pain. The LIFE Project Partners also know it doesn’t have
to be that way, and LIFE Project Partners are working individually and
together to ensure that all Kansans have good pain management. LIFE’s
public campaign is focused on teaching consumers that “Every Kansan should
expect good pain management!”
Campaign posters will soon be available to LIFE Project Partners and Caring Communities. These beautiful 11”x17” full color posters are designed for prominent display in churches, libraries, physician’s offices, hospitals, long-term care facilities, senior centers, pharmacies and other public locations.
Watch
soon for a request for placing orders for these posters and other campaign
materials and please begin to think of ways you can help distribute and
post these materials.
KANSAS
ATTORNEY GENERAL ATTENDS NATIONAL EOL MEETING
Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline demonstrates his commitment
to serve and protect consumer rights for Kansans nearing the end of life
On May 15-17, Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline and
Donna Bales, President and CEO of the Kansas LIFE Project, demonstrated
Kansas’ continuing commitment to help all Kansans live with dignity, comfort
and peace as they near the end of life. The two, and other Kansans,
attended the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) third and
final national listening conference focused on improving end-of-life care
in Baltimore, MD. (Pictured, above, L rto R: Myra Christopher,
Midwest Bioethics Center; Donna Bales, Kansas LIFE Project; Jack
Schwartz, Asst. AG, Maryland; Phill Kline, Kansas Attorney
General; Linda Edmondson, Oklahoma Alliance for Better Care for
the Dying; Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma Attorney General, President
of the National Association of Attorneys General.)
Hosted by NAAG president, Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, the conference provided a panel of attorneys general, key staff people, and an invited audience of more than 125 people with the opportunity to hear noted authorities address a range of care issues involving policy, patient care, pain management, and best practices.
Panelists at the meeting stressed the important roles that AGs play in influencing public policy and helping educate the public about quality care. Issues of advance care planning, management of pain and other symptoms of illness and consumer protection are some of the areas where AGs can work to improve care. Drew Edmondson encouraged AGs to work strategically to address these needs and to protect these vulnerable citizens.
The
conference was part of NAAG's ongoing presidential initiative focused
on eliminating real and perceived legal barriers to quality care, educating
the public in planning for their own care needs, and working in partnership
with others to assure that the rights of patients and families are met.
“LIFE Project Partners are delighted,” says Bales, “that Kansas Attorney
General Phill Kline invested time and energy to understand these issues
and will support Kansans by working with the LIFE Project. Kansans are
fortunate, indeed, to have an Attorney General with such vision.”
LIFE TASK GROUP ADDRESSING DPOAHC
LIFE Project will testify on May 30 before the Kansas Judicial
Council as they deliberate status of the Durable Power of Attorney for
Health Care Decisions
The LIFE Project Public Policy Task Group met in Emporia on May 22 to discuss testimony about the DPOAHC. Don Reynolds, co-chair of the LIFE Project’s Public Policy Task Group, has given important leadership in studying best practices in advance care planning, in talking with national leaders and with other states’ leaders and in helping the task group focus on key issues. Don Reynolds and Donna Bales will offer testimony to the Kansas Judicial Council, on May 30, as they review the status of the Kansas DPOAHC.
Note:
All persons who serve on the LIFE Project Public Policy Task Group have
been receiving regular notes about this work. If any LIFE Project Partner
would like to be added to that task group, in order to receive mailings
and/or meet with the group, please let us know by emailing Donna Bales
at donna@lifeproject.org.
CARING COMMUNITIES FOCUS ON PAIN
MANAGEMENT
Jackson County and Oskaloosa Caring Community leaders are
working together to provide professional education on June 24
On June 24, 2003, The Jackson County (Holton) and Oskaloosa Caring Communities are hosting “Pain Management: It’s up to you!” This clinical education workshop, from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., will be held at the Family Life Center at the Evangel United Methodist Church in Holton. Leaders from Holton and Oskaloosa have designed a full day workshop for nurses and other professionals, which will be facilitated by Melanie Simpson, RN, BA, OCN, CHPN, from the Pain Management Resource Team at KU Medical Center. The workshop brochure can be downloaded at www.lifeproject.org/_cc_16.htm.
This
is a LIFE Project event and, thanks to underwriting by Rallying Points,
is available for just $8 per person. LIFE’s Caring Communities,
by working collaboratively, are maximizing the resources to impact improved
care as life nears its end. Watch for details on future pain management
interventions being planned in Liberal, Phillipsburg, Clay Center and
Emporia.
****UPDATES, NOTES and UPCOMING OF EVENTS****
June 11, 2003 Via Christi Department of Education presents “Advance Directives: What Every Health Care Worker Needs to Know.” Facilitated by Carolyn Harrison, RN, the workshop is from 9:00 am to Noon and will be held at the St. Joseph Campus (McNamara Center – 3rd Floor) in Wichita. Fee: $30. CNE’s will be provided. Call 316-689-5700 to register.
June 12-14, 2003 The 14th Annual Meeting of the American Alliance of Cancer Pain Initiatives will be held June 12-14 at the Hilton Pasadena, CA. The theme of the meeting is “Spotlight on Pain.” For complete conference details visit http://www.aacpi.wisc.edu/14amtg.htm, or call Lorre Kolb at 608-265-4013 (email: ljkolb@wisc.edu). LIFE’s own Bob Twillman is current chair of this national group!
June 19-20, 2003 Midland Hospice will conduct a workshop for nurses based on the ELNEC (End-of-Life Nurses Education Consortium) curriculum. The training will be presented Thursday, June 19 from 8:00-5:00 pm and continues on Friday, June 20 from 8:00-2:30. Twelve contact hours will be provided for RN, LPN, or LMHT licensure. Cost is $129, if registered by June 1. Please contact Harmony Hines at Midland for more details, phone (785) 232-2044, ext. 311, email: hhines@midlandhospice.org.
June 24, 2003 The Jackson County (Holton) and Oskaloosa Caring Communities are hosting “Pain Management: Its up to you!” on June 24, at the Family Life Center at the Evangel United Methodist Church in Holton. Leaders from Holton and Oskaloosa have designed a full day workshop for nurses and other professionals, which will be facilitated by Melanie Simpson, RN, BA, OCN, CHPN, from the Pain Management Resource Team at KU Medical Center. The workshop brochure can be downloaded at www.lifeproject.org/_cc_16.htm.
August 14-16, 2003 The first ELNEC Pediatric Palliative Care Training Program will take place at the Hilton Pasadena in Pasadena, CA, August 14-16. There is no registration fee for this training program. All course materials, including a hard copy of the curriculum, a CD of the curriculum, a textbook on palliative nursing, and a children's book, will all be provided at no cost to the participants. Space is limited to 100 participants, and early registration is encouraged. To download a program agenda and registration materials, visit www.aacn.nche.edu/elnec, or contact Nicole Brown at 202-463-6930, ext. 240, or by email at nbrown@aacn.nche.edu.
NOTE: If you have any announcements to add to our calendar, please forward them to Stacie Ogborn four to eight weeks in advance of the event: LIFE Project, 1901 University, Wichita, KS 67212, Fax # (316) 263-6542, or submit them by email to: stacie@lifeproject.org.
LIFE Project
1901
University - Wichita,
Kansas 67213-3325
316.263.6380
316.263.6542
fax
HELPLINE
(tollfree) 888-202-5433
888-202-LIFE
contact@lifeproject.org