Caring Communities of Kansas

Dear Caring Communities,

It’s hard to believe that summer is gone already!!  It was a busy and
productive summer – filled with activities to improve end-of-life care across Kansas. 

The LIFE Project held a statewide Project Partner & Caring Community meeting in August,
participated in the KS State Fair and promoted the Moyers’ Series in September, and sponsored
a Palliative Care Workshop in Kansas City during October .

Contained in this newsletter are just a few of the activities that many of you have shared with me.
Thank you again for your dedication and support to this important project.  jan

Updates on News & Events

 World Health Organization presents Palliative Care Workshop

Physicians, nurses, and pharmacists attended the palliative care workshop in October. 
Registrants from as far away as Canada came to hear world-renowned experts on palliative care. 
There were more than 30 who attended the weeklong workshop and over 90 who attended the Saturday event. 
The responses were excellent overall, with requests to expand the 8-hour session on Saturday to a 2-3 day session.

  Stories At Work

On September 21^st Meadowlark Hospice sponsored the first Stories At Work workshop. 
The class consisted of nurses, EMS personnel, social workers and ministers. 
With this mix of background experiences there was great conversation about how the
medical professional deals with end of life issues.  It was fascinating listening to
each one of the participants talk about the stories, which would lead them to share
their personal stories.  This was very valuable as the stories they all shared touched the hearts of the group. 
The class visited about the difference in areas of health care dealing with different aspects of death. 
The evaluation’s and comments were overwhelmingly positive, everyone felt the tool of using stories
to help learn about end-of-life issues was “a great teaching tool”.
(Dianne Michaud, Program Director, Meadowlark Hospice)

Plans are being made to hold this program in Manhattan in the near term. 
Victoria Sherry with the Kansas Humanities Council would like to encourage
others to contact her for additional information and to discuss scheduling a program
in your area.  She may be reached at 785-357-0359. 

  Kansas State Fair

Eighteen volunteers from the Caring Communities braved the heat, dust, wind, and
chaos to help out the LIFE Project at the State Fair in Hutchinson September 8-17. 
Approximately 400 surveys were filled out by fairgoers who visited the KU Med Center booth. 
Results of those surveys will be available later this year.  Although most of the volunteers
reported that the general public received the LIFE project warmly, some felt that
this was not the most ideal venue to get our message out.  The input wereceived from
the volunteers will be very useful in helping us determine what, if anything, we should do differently next year.

  Project Partner & Caring Community meetings held 8-16-00

Over 70 people attended the Project Partner and Statewide Caring Community
meetings in Topeka on August 16^th.  Updates of ongoing activities were provided
along with Caring Community reports from Wichita on engaging the public, Manhattan
on engaging the faith community, and Lawrence on strengthening and building Caring Community
leadership groups.  Carolen Collins, communications specialist from Midwest Bioethics, provided
Media training.

The next statewide Caring Community/Project Partner meeting will be held in the spring of 2001.

  Press Releases

Press releases regarding the LIFE project and Caring Community activities
(Kansas State Fair, Moyers, website, helpline, etc.) were found in many Kansas
newspapers, including the following:

The Ledger (Moundridge), Kansas Senior Times (Sharon Springs), The Salina Journal,
Emporia Gazette, Abilene Reflector-Chronicle, Edwards County Sentinel, Glasco Sun,

Times-Sentinel (Cheney), Clyde Republican, Andover Journal Advocate, Wichita Times,

Clay Center Dispatch, Newton Kansas, McPherson Sentinel, Kiowa County Signal (Greensburg),
Beloit’s Daily Call, Wichita Eagle, Ellis Review, Great Bend Tribune, Ellinwood Leader,
The Telegraph (Blue Rapids), Phillips County Review, Lebanon Times, Conway Springs Star
& Argonia Argosy, St. John News, Gove County Advocate (Quinter), Greeley County Republican Tribune,
Coffeyville Journal, Ft. Scott Tribune, Wellington Daily News, Southwest Daily Times (Liberal),
Garden City Telegram, Lawrence Journal World, Pratt Tribune, Parsons Sun, Holton Recorder,
Rawlins County Square Deal (Atwood), Lebanon Times

  Moyers’On Our Own Terms

During the broadcast of the Moyers series on PBS, volunteers from Kansas Health Ethics,
Hospice Care of Kansas, Hospice of Reno County, Inc., Central Homecare and Hospice, Inc. and
Hospice Inc. staffed the LIFE Project Helpline.   The temporary phone bank was set up at Hospice Inc.,
without whose expertise, generosity, and patience would have made receiving more than one call at a
time nearly impossible.  The phone bank volunteers were able to watch the nightly broadcast thanks
to a cable hookup provided by Cox Communications.   The phone bank received 68 calls over the
four nights of On Our Own Terms for an average of 17 calls per night with most of those coming
in during the half hour period after each segment was broadcast. 

In the days and weeks following the broadcast, the Helpline has logged dozens more
calls from around the state.  The majority of callers have been eager to voice their appreciation
for the Moyers series and the information it provided.  Requests for pamphlets on hospice care,
advance directives, pain management and bereavement have been the most frequent, and 28 individuals
have been added to our mailing list as a result.

Kansas Health Ethics sponsored a discussion group on September 23^rd.  St. Catherine Hospital
in Garden City plans to hold open town hall meetings in late October and early November to
promote discussion and education of end-of-life issues.  Cloud County Health Center (hospital)
plans to facilitate discussion throughout the county.

The Moyers’ nationwide viewership of 19 million was greater than 58% over the
PBS Prime Time average.  The increased number was attributed to the activities and
promotion provided by individual communities across the nation.  Kansas Caring Communities
can take pride in the work they accomplished throughout the state.  The following are some
examples of local activities:

Clay Center Caring Community:

Presentations to:

Long term care 

United Methodist Church

Nursing home

Emporia Caring Community:  Held a town meeting after the conclusion of the four-part series. 
The meeting drew 60 to 70 people.

Great Bend Caring Community:

·        Offered a facilitated viewing at five centers: Great Bend, Larned, Russell, Ellinwood,
and Hoisington.  (over 60 participants during four sessions)

·        Used newspaper ad, editorials, and features in our service area.

·        Used radio “Health Chat” to promote.

·        Placed posters in churches and hospitals.

Holton Caring Community:  Sponsored a public forum on September 14^th to
get people talking about their final wishes.  The Holton Recorder had a wonderful
article promoting local activities and the Moyers’ series.

Lawrence Caring Community:

It would have been difficult for anyone in Lawrence to miss knowing about the series and the 
local activities connected with it.

* Ann Gardner, a council member, wrote an excellent article for the "Over Sixty" paper, 
which appeared, prominently on the first page.

* Ann also wrote the press release, which was well placed in the Journal World and 
sent to other news sources.

* KLWN had numerous pieces on the TV documentary and the local plans,

* KLWN also interviewed Dr, Sovinski, a Council member, and Emily Taylor about the 
LIFE program, giving them an opportunity to urge people to watch the programs and attend 
the “town meetings.”

* Gene Meyers and Janice Early-Weas arranged to have the brochure "On Our Own Terms" 
printed on the back with the times and places of our local meetings. Council members distributed 
the brochures widely.

* Margo Gordon, Council member, wrote an article for the newsletter of the Older Women's League.

* Jeff Weinberg, Council member, had an article in the Oread, a KU newsletter with wide circulation.

* Nadereh Nassari, Council member, had an article in the hospice newsletter.

* Donna Bell and Dorothy Devlin, both Council members, made sure that all staff and 
residents of our two retirement complexes knew about the series and our local plans.

* Bruce Flanders, Council member, wrote an excellent piece and published it in the 
Lawrence Public Library Newsletter.

* Mr. Flanders, Director of the Library, also set up an exhibit 
of books and other materials on the subjects with which LIFE is concerned.  
He not only placed this exhibit in the most prominent place in the library, 
he also asked the Friends of the Library to purchase books recommended by 
the state library which were not already available. The Friends group agreed.

* Council members Rev. Judy Long O'Neal. Rev. John Gingerich, and Sister Irene McGrath, 
who are part of the Lawrence faith community, wrote a personal letter to over 100 ministerial 
colleagues telling about Lawrence activities and urging them to inform their parishioners.

* The Lawrence Caring Community Council held nine community meetings following the 
Moyers programs in all parts of town. Only one, which was in a difficult to find area, was not 
well attended. The meetings were lead by Council members, all of whom participated. Meetings 
were held at Presbyterian Manor at 9:30 each morning following each segment of the series; at 
The Smith Center of Brandon Woods, the Douglas County Senior Center, and the 
United Way Center at 1pm on Thursday; and at the hospital and the Knights of Columbus at 7 pm.

Liberal Caring Community:  A town meeting was held and a panel of experts were on hand
to answer questions during the broadcast.

Phillipsburg Caring Community:  First Lutheran Church was open for group viewing of the series. 
A month long program for any civic group, Sunday School class, or other organizations is being offered.

Pratt Caring Community:  The group is planning screenings, town hall meetings, training
workshops for volunteers and medical professionals, interfaith discussion groups, and many
other events and activities that will raise public awareness and promote dialogue about end-of-life issues.

Salina Caring Community:  Held four discussion sessions at the Salina Regional Health Center’s
Penn Campus.  Purchased videotapes to lend out.

Wichita Caring Community:  Hosted a series of programs in conjunction with the Moyers’
series to encourage discussion about the quality and accessibility of end-of-life care for
terminally ill people in the local area.

Community Updates

  Holton

The Holton Recorder reported on the LIFE project website and helpline.

  Newton

The Newton Caring Community Council plans to have an exhibit at the local health fair. 
The health fair will be held on October 27^th & 28^th at the Newton Recreation Center.

Reminders

    LIFE Project WEBSITE

Work continues on the development of the website.  Remember to send information
that you would like to have online to LIFE project staff.  Pictures would also be great!

 

Note:  There was no Monthly Report generated Aug-Sep for the Caring Communities of Kansas.