LIFE line            July, 2001

Updates from the Kansas LIFE Project

(Living Initiatives For End-of-Life Care)

On the Web:  www.lifeproject.org

• Dr. Bob Twillman of the Kansas Pain Initiative and University of Kansas Medical Center will be interviewed on MSNBC (Wichita cable channel 24) on Thursday, July 19, at 1:00 (CST) on the national OxyContin debate.  

• The Kansas State Board of Nursing has adopted the LIFE Project’s Principles of Pain Management in a statement issued on July 11, 2001.  For a copy of the guidelines contact them at (785) 296-4929.

• Donna Bales, Principal Investigator and Project Director of the LIFE Project, has been asked to serve as a member of the National Institutes of Health advisory board for pain and palliative care.

• Mercedes Bern-Klug, MSW, MA, Associate Director for Community Education at the Center on Aging, KU Medical Center, and Sandy Kuhlman, Executive Director of Hospice Services, Inc., Phillipsburg, KS, Co-Chairs of the LIFE Project Public Engagement and Education Task Group, were featured guests on a recent edition of public radio station KCUR’s weekly program “Up-to-Date.”  The program, which was broadcast in the Kansas City area, discussed health and manpower issues in rural areas of Kansas.  Also discussed were the many challenges of providing hospices services in rural areas.
• South Wind Hospice in Pratt opened a new residential home called Hospice Guest House on June 19.  The home itself, located at 109 N. Jackson, was donated by the United Methodist Church of Pratt and will serve as a residence for up to three hospice patients who can no longer live in their own homes.  Visiting families staying over will also have access to their own sleeping quarters.  This residential Hospice Guest House is the first of its kind in Kansas and will be available at no charge to patients and their families. 

  Congratulations to the community of Pratt!  For more information on this exciting new service, please contact Sharon Will at South Wind Hospice in Pratt, (620) 672-7553.

• Over 150 callers participated in the “FINDING OUR WAY:  Living With Dying in America” (FOW) Last Acts conference call on June 29.  Dr. Dan Tobin of the New York Life Institute, and Project Director of FOW, shared numerous tips for community activities:

  -         Hold hospital summits to discuss end-of-life issues.

  -         Get the word out!  Encourage radio and television involvement and support.  There is a national campaign being initiated that will be very effective, but local support is crucial.

  -         Organize a public forum, town hall meetings, etc.  Use the topic “LIVING WITH DYING in  (anytown, Kansas).

  -         Work with bookstores and libraries to promote the series.

  -         Introduce end-of-life topics in schools.

  The important thing is for communities to create a demand:  Let your local editors know that your community wants and needs this information!

  For a complete synopsis of the conference call contact Jan Brandom at the LIFE Project office, (316) 263-6380 or by email:  jan@lifeproject.  A copy of this synopsis has already been sent to the key contacts of the Caring Communities.

• The Caring Communities of Kansas have been busy with local activities throughout the year and have shared their future plans with Jan Brandom, LIFE Project Coordinator.  A few highlights of their activities in 2001 include:

  -         Hospice volunteer training events and area health fairs

  -         End-of-life presentations, website development, and press coverage

  -         Local physicians attended EPEC training

  -         Optimist Club presentation

  -         Partnered with organizers of local Relay for Life event

  Other exciting events that will be coming up for the Caring Communities include:

  -         “Lunch & Learn” sessions

  -         Re-airing of Moyers PBS series

  -         Caring Community orientation session

  -         Cultural diversity seminar

  Many local events are also being planned in connection with the upcoming newspaper series, FINDING OUR WAY:  Living With Dying in America.  The Newton Caring Community has already gained a commitment to produce five local stories for the series.  Representatives from the Wichita Caring Community have also been in contact with editors of the Wichita Eagle to promote local coverage of end-of-life issues in that city.

• We are adding new resources and links to the website on a regular basis.  Be sure to check in often!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

·        Midwest Bioethics Center and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly Health Care Financing Administration) will sponsor “Compassionate Options:  End-of-Life Care for Nursing Home Residents,” August 20-21, 2001, in Atlanta, GA.  The focus of the consortium will be on palliative care, pain management and hospice.  For more information contact Judith Crane, Midwest Bioethics Center, Kansas City, (816) 221-1100.

·        LAST ACTS will launch the first in a series of five regional meetings beginning in September 2001.  The first conference of the North/South Plains region will be September 10-12, 2001, in Denver, CO.  Future meetings are tentatively scheduled as follows:  November 2001 (Philadelphia, PA), February 2002 (Tampa or Orlando, FL), June 2002 (San Francisco, CA, or Seattle, WA), September 2002 (St. Louis, MO, or Chicago, IL). 

Donna Bales will present a workshop on “Maximizing the Power of the Community” on September 12 during the Last Acts meeting.

For a copy of the conference brochure, visit the Last Acts website at www.lastacts.org/file/publications/regional meetings promo.pdf

·        The one-and-a-half day Last Acts meeting will be preceded by a two-day ELNEC (End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium) train-the-trainer precourse for continuing education/staff development officers.  For more information about the ELNEC curriculum, visit their website at www.aacn.nche.edu/elnec/curriculum.htm or contact Susan Taylor at (727) 588-2864 or by email:  susantaylor@thehospice.org.  Registrations received after July 15 will be accepted on a space-available basis.

·        Make plans to attend “Journey to Life’s End:  Decisions, Love, Hope” to be held Saturday, October 6, 2001, at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park.  This unique end-of-life symposium will feature a full day of recognized speakers and breakout sessions that will address such important issues as advance directives, organ donation, ethical dilemmas in health care, palliative care, government programs and benefits, end-of-life issues involving children, caregiving for seniors, grief preparation, and other topics.  One of the keynote presenters will be national syndicated columnist and radio talk show celebrity, Mitch Albom, author of the bestseller, Tuesdays with Morrie.

The conference is under the direction of Steve Jeffers, PhD, Community Outreach Coordinator at Shawnee Mission Medical Center.  More information will be available soon.

·        AARP of Kansas is tentatively scheduled to host two Caring Conversations workshops in Wichita on October 13 & 27.

*   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.