LIFE line            March, 2001

Updates from the Kansas LIFE Project

• HBO will air WIT, starring two-time Oscar winner, Emma Thompson, on March 24 at 8 pm.  Wit is a powerful and entertaining production (adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Margaret Edson play) about one woman’s spiritual awakening in the face of death.   A rebroadcast of the program is also scheduled for March 27 (check local listings).  Don’t miss it!
• 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.”  Retreat participants have been invited to attend the Wichita Center for the Arts’ production of Wit on the evening of April 27.  Contact Jan Brandom at the LIFE Project for more information, (316) 263-6380.
• 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.  There is still space for up to five doctor/nurse teams; scholarships are available.  If you are interested in attending, please contact the LIFE Project at (316) 263-6380.

UPCOMING END-OF-LIFE EVENTS  *

• The LIFE Project Pain Protocol Work Group will host a pain management seminar for acute and long-term care administrators, nurse leaders and mid-level managers on Wednesday, April 4, 2001, at Central Community Church in Wichita.  The symposium, titled “Building an Organizational Commitment to Pain Management,” will be led by Patricia Berry, PhD, RN, CRNH, CS, Project Coordinator (JCAHO Standards Project), Institutionalizing Pain Management, University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School, and Julie Griffie, RN, MSN, CS, AOCN, Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist, Medical College of Wisconsin.  A half-day workshop on the JCAHO pain standards will be conducted on Thursday, April 5. 

• 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, 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.

·        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 at the LIFE Project, 1901 University, Wichita, KS  67212, Fax # (316) 263-6542, or submit them by email to:  stacie@lifeproject.org.