LIFE line            April, 2001

Updates from the Kansas LIFE Project

(Living Initiatives For End-of-Life Care)

* PAIN PROTOCOL PROJECT MOVES FORWARD *

• The LIFE Project announces the selection of fifteen acute and long-term care facilities that will participate in a demonstration project to improve pain assessment and management.  Over the course of the fifteen-month project, participants will receive customized support from the LIFE Project in order to create/improve systems for pain management, plus gain broad acceptance and understanding of the principles and practice of pain management.  In return, the facilities will share their learning and processes with the LIFE Project.  The kickoff event for the project was a seminar held in Wichita April 4-5 titled “Building an Organizational Commitment to Pain Management” where the facilities were given the tools to succeed in implementing system-wide change.

  Stacie Ogborn of the LIFE Project has been named Project Coordinator of the Pain Protocol Facilities Initiative and will work closely with Kay Hale, Vice President of the Kansas Hospital Association, and Debra Zehr, Vice President of Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.

  Facilities were chosen based on their size, geographic location, and current pain assessment practices.  The following Kansas health care facilities will participate in the project: 

  Central Kansas Medical Center, Great Bend

  Cushing Memorial Hospital, Leavenworth

  Frankfort Community Care Home, Frankfort

  Friendly Acres, Inc., Newton

  Medicalodge, Douglass

  Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center, Chanute

  Newton Medical Center, Newton

  Norton County Hospital, Norton

  Pratt Regional Medical Center, Pratt

  Providence Place, Kansas City

  Shepherd’s Center, Cimarron

  Southwest Medical Center, Liberal

  Trego County – Lemke Memorial Hospital, Wakeeney

  Trinity Manor, Dodge City

  Good Samaritan Village, Winfield

  We congratulate these facilities and others throughout the state on their commitment to offering excellent pain management to their patients and residents.

• The LIFE Project statewide Caring Community Spring Retreat will be held April 27-28, 2001, at Central Community Church in Wichita.  Workshop topics include “Engaging the Faith Community,” “Honoring Cultural Diversity and Inclusion,” “Caring Communities: Supporting the Caregiver,” and “Death and Dying:  Let’s Talk About It.”  We will have up-to-date information about the $100 million commitment from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the Faith in Action program.  Retreat participants have also been invited to attend the Wichita Center for the Arts’ production of Wit on the evening of April 27. 

  Participants will also plan local events related to a 15-week Knight-Ridder Tribune newspaper series on end-of-life scheduled to run in September – December, 2001. 

  Contact Jan Brandom at the LIFE Project for more information, (316) 263-6380.

• Over 150 nurses, nurse leaders, administrators, quality assurance personnel and other health care professionals attended the LIFE Project seminar, Building an Organizational Commitment to Pain Management in Wichita April 4-5.  Facilitated by Patricia Berry of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Julie Griffie of the Medical College of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the workshop provided participants with hands-on tools for implementing pain management and assessment practices within their organizations.

• Last week, the LIFE Project brought together key leaders to collaborate on efforts to address the needs of Kansans who are offering care to those they love.  Representatives attending the meeting on April 12 included Kansas State University Extension and Research, Kansas Department on Aging, KU Center on Aging, and the Kansas Chapter of the Area Agencies on Aging.  The participants shared their plans, hopes and expectations related to caregiving issues and will work to continue supporting each other’s efforts.

• On April 4, the LIFE Project held a meeting in Wichita to listen to concerns of citizens who have difficulty in receiving pain management.  Two patients, chronically in pain, and one family member shared their stories with three Wichita physicians, a member of the University of Wisconsin Medical College faculty, Dr. Robert Twillman and Donna Bales.  The consumers’ concerns will be summarized by Dr. Twillman, and the LIFE Project Public Policy Task Group will address these issues.

• Donna Bales, President/CEO of the Association of Kansas Hospices and Director of the LIFE Project, gave a presentation at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Meeting March 28 in Orlando, Florida.  The presentation covered the work that is being done on the Bi-State Telehospice Project in Kansas and Michigan.  The Association of Kansas Hospices is working to determine the value and effectiveness of “tele-visits” to support traditional hospice services.

• On March 2, the LIFE Project convened a group of public policy leaders to consider issues related to pain assessment and management.  Dr. Robert Twillman, Kansas Pain Initiative, and Donna Bales, LIFE Project, gave an overview and update of developments – both nationally and statewide.  Representatives from the following groups attended:  Kansas State Board of Nursing, Kansas State Board of Pharmacy, Kansas Board of Healing Arts, Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas State Nurses Assn., Kansas Pharmacists Assn., Kansas Hospital Assn., Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, Kansas Health Care Assn., Kansas Medical Society, Kansas State Legislature, Kansas Association of Osteopathic Medicine.

• The focus of the second issue of the LIFE Project Design for Change will be on advance directives.  Look for the latest issue in June, 2001.

UPCOMING END-OF-LIFE EVENTS  *

• The LIFE Project will sponsor EPEC (Education for Professionals in End-of-Life Care) Training, April 27-28, 2001, at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. 

• The Hospice Foundation of America will broadcast a national bereavement teleconference, “Caregiving and Loss:  Family Needs, Professional Responses,” April 18, 2001, from 1:30-4:00 pm (EDT).  The teleconference will be moderated by ABC News correspondent, Cokie Roberts and begins with a special message from former first lady, Rosalynn Carter.  As of March 19, the following cities in Kansas have registered sites:  Lawrence, Osawatomie, Manhattan, Salina, Topeka, Chanute, Concordia, El Dorado, Peck, Pratt, Wichita, Hutchinson, Lyons, Hays, Goodland,Pittsburg, and Garden City.  Please visit the HFA website for more information regarding specific locations:  www.hospicefoundation.org.

• Via Christi Regional Medical Center is offering CNE credit for viewing and discussing the four parts of the Moyers series.  The final 3-hour session will be facilitated by Alice Thornton Bell and Doris Kimbrell on April 19 from 1-4 pm at the St. Francis campus.  Please contact the Continuing Education Department at 316-268-5845 for more information.

• The 3^rd Annual Spirituality and Healing Conference will be held April 20, 2001, at First United Methodist Church in Wichita.  Email Jo_Veta_Wescott@via-christi.org for more information.

• Rabbi Harold Kushner and Rev. William Sloan Coffin will be the leading speakers at the 2^nd Annual Compassion Sabbath Clergy Conference in Kansas City, April 26, 2001.

• The Governor’s Conference on Aging Services will be held May 3-4, 2001, at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Topeka.  This year’s theme is “Caring for the Whole Person” and will cover such topics as aging and physical health, mental wellness, long-term care planning, addictions, financial security, caregiving, advocacy, end-of-life issues, research on Alzheimer’s and other dementia care.  Mercedes Bern-Klug, MSW, MA, Associate Director for Community Education at the Center on Aging, University of Kansas Medical Center and State Co-Chair of the LIFE Project Public Engagement Task Force, will be a featured speaker on Friday, May 4.

   

• Wayne Muller, from Bread for the Journey, Inc. will be the keynote speaker at a full day workshop on “Burnout” to be held May 7 at the Family Hope Center (First Presbyterian Church) in Salina.  He will also give a public address from 7:00-9:00 pm (cost is by donation).  Please contact Becky Ewing, at (785) 825-8461, or by email at fhcwhm@midusa.net for registration information.

• The third annual meeting of the Community-State Partnerships to Improve End-of-Life Care will be held May 16-18 at the Fairmont Kansas City on the Plaza.

• Amos Bailey and Edwina Taylor from Balm of Gilead Hospice, featured on segment 4 of the Moyers series, will be in Kansas City on May 23-24, 2001, as part of the annual Layton Lecture event co-sponsored by Midwest Bioethics Center and St. Luke’s/SMMM Health Care System.

• Dr. Robert Twycross and the Sobell Study Centre at Oxford International Centre for Palliative Care announce their 2001 schedule for advanced courses in Pain & Symptom Management.  Course dates are as follows:  June 14-15, Newcastle, England; June 28-29, Oxford, England; July 5-6, Oxford, England.  Please contact the LIFE Project for registration information.

• The Missoula Demonstration Project will host the 3^rd annual retreat for end-of-life activists, August 4-7, 2001, in Missoula, Montana.  Meet Ira Byock, MD, and the entire MDP staff as they discuss different ways to make an impact on your community.  A complete brochure and registration form is available on their website:  www.missoulademonstration.org.

*   If you have any announcements to add to our calendar, please forward them to Stacie Ogborn by the 10^th of the month:  LIFE Project, 1901 University, Wichita, KS  67212, Fax # (316) 263-6542, or submit them by email to:  stacie@lifeproject.org.