Please accept our best wishes for the holiday season. A special greeting is waiting for you at www.lifeproject.org/HolidayGreeting2002.pdf.
More than 250 LIFE Project Partners and others came together at the Wichita Hyatt on October 22-23 to celebrate LIFE’s accomplishments of the first five years, to gain understanding of the present issues that face our state, and to plan for the future.
Several special guests were on hand to welcome the group, which was comprised of community leaders, nursing and social work professionals, physicians, clergy, statewide leaders, consumers, and others. Senator Sandy Praeger of Lawrence, the newly elected Insurance Commissioner of Kansas, and Connie Hubbell, Kansas Secretary of Aging, provided welcoming comments to open the session on October 22. Both leaders spoke of their personal and professional missions for creating an environment in our state whereby every consumer has access to quality care at the end of life. Their opening remarks, and those provided by Donna Bales, President and CEO of the LIFE Project, provided a challenge to the participants to go back to their communities, facilities and agencies and continue their work that makes a difference for all Kansans.
Other introductions during the conference were made by Kim Moore, President of United Methodist Health Ministry Fund; Myra Christopher, Program Director of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Community-State Partnerships to Improve End-of-Life Care; Maren Turner, State Director of AARP Kansas; Pat Maben, Director of Adult Long-Term Care Programs at the Kansas Department of Health & Environment; Kay Lohmiller, Chair of the LIFE Project Board of Directors; Sandy Kuhlman, Co-Chair of the LIFE Project Public Engagement Task Group; and Marilyn Wasinger, Clinical Practice Improvement Coordinator with Via Christi Regional Medical Center.
Leading off the conference keynote address was Mary Labyak of The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast, a national leader on end-of-life care issues. In “Looking Back and Looking Ahead: Where Do We Go From Here?” Mary outlined the radical changes that have occurred in end-of-life care in our country over the past twenty years in the context of healthcare systems, public policy arenas, and consumer activism. The challenges and barriers we face as healthcare providers, public policy and community leaders are numerous, though Labyak made it clear in her presentation “Tackling the Big Issues,” that short- and long-term solutions were attainable.
Dr. Dan Tobin, Director of the National Advance Illness Coordinated Care Program, also presented a usable framework for integrating palliative care into conventional healthcare settings and systems. A series of practical models was presented by Tobin in his presentations, “The Big Picture” and “Beyond Breaking Bad News,” to illustrate how change can and must occur in health systems and communities alike.
At a “Celebration Luncheon” on October 22, the LIFE Project recognized and celebrated the efforts of its nearly 100 Project Partners. LIFE Project co-founder, John Carney, came back from his current position in Washington, DC, to emcee the event. A moving presentation was given by the family of Kansan, Frances Redd, who died of cancer in June. Her daughter, Nadine Redd, provided a photo montage to illustrate how laughter, love, joy, and sorrow were prevalent in the last week’s of her mother’s life and added to the fullness of her final journey. Nadine, her father, Ed, and the other members of her family paid a special tribute to Linda Lee, the hospice nurse who provided care for Frances before she died. The emotional tribute concluded with a performance by Mackie Redd, a local singer-songwriter and son of Frances and Ed, who sang his original and memorable composition, “When the Last Leaves Fall.”
Immediately following the luncheon, the LIFE Project hosted a press and participant briefing on the “Joint Policy Statement on the Use of Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Pain,” which was recently adopted by the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts, the Kansas State Board of Nursing and the Kansas State Board of Pharmacy. The statement was developed as an important step to ensure that people with pain receive the treatment they deserve, and the LIFE Project was the impetuous for this groundbreaking policy statement. A panel of experts, including representatives from each of the three boards and their professional associations, were on hand to demonstrate the commitment of their organizations and to answer questions from the audience. Presenting on behalf of their respective organizations were: Dr. Roger Warren, Board Member, Kansas State Board of Healing Arts; Mary Blubaugh, Executive Director, Kansas State Board of Nursing; Susan Linn, Executive Director, Kansas State Board of Pharmacy; Chip Wheelen, Executive Director, Kansas Association of Osteopathic Medicine; Jerry Slaughter, Executive Director, Kansas Medical Society; Dr. Robert Haneke, Past President of the Kansas Pharmacists Association; and Patricia Plank, Treasurer of the Kansas State Nurses Association.
The panel presentation was facilitated by Dr. Gary Doolittle, Chair of the LIFE Project Professional Education Task Group and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical School, and was wrapped up with a policy briefing by Dr. Robert Twillman, President-Elect of the American Alliance of Cancer Pain Initiatives and Director of the Pain Management Program at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
The press event generated considerable interest from Kansas media. Twillman and LIFE Project Director, Donna Bales, both provided on-air interviews for numerous radio stations across the state, and the issue of pain management was featured on the front page of the October 23 edition of the Wichita Eagle (read the full article online at www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/living/health/4346373.htm). Many other newspapers across the state also picked up the story. For a copy of the Joint Policy Statement and the corresponding press release issued by the LIFE Project, please visit the LIFE Project website at www.lifeproject.org.
In addition to the sessions provided in the “Future of End-of-Life Care” meeting, Rallying Points also hosted a wrap-around event for actively engaged community coalitions. The twenty-four LIFE Project Caring Communities were well represented at the October 22 banquet and October 23 luncheon. Tina Purser-Langley of the Rallying Points National Coordinating Center in Washington, DC, and Jacqueline Talman, Director of the Rallying Points Midwest Region, explained the Rallying Points Certificate Program, which offers resources to allow community coalitions to more effectively assess and address community needs.
LIFE PROJECT WELCOMES NEW CARING COMMUNITIES
Newly forming coalitions are actively engaged in Garden City and Washington County
The Washington County Caregiver Task Force has been actively engaged in addressing caregiving and other concerns in north central Kansas. The coalition was formed with the help of representatives from the Clay Center Caring Community prior to the airing of the PBS broadcast of “And Thou Shalt Honor.” Rev. John Wright with the United Methodist Church in Washington and Mary Pacey and Christine Buchanan, volunteers with Meadowlark Hospice, are members of the Washington Caring Community council and are working with LIFE Project staff to engage consumers and the faith community.
Marsha Huston, a Long-Term Care Ombudsman with the State of Kansas, is recruiting community leaders to serve on the Garden City Caring Community, our newest coalition. Marsha attended the LIFE Project and Rallying Points meetings in October and has registered the coalition with Rallying Points.
We welcome both communities and thank these community leaders for their passion and commitment. If your community is interested in convening a council to address end-of-life issues, please call Donna Bales or Stacie Ogborn at the LIFE Project. We have resources and a toolkit to get you started, plus, Donna is offering a coalition-building workshop on “The Caring Communities Model: Your Grassroots Connection” to eligible coalitions via the Rallying Points Certificate Program.
PARTNER CONTRIBUTION HAS IMPACT THROUGHOUT KANSAS
The Kansas Association of Broadcasters’ airing of LIFE Project PSA’s on pain management has far-reaching ripple effect
From the moment members of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters began airing the LIFE Project public service announcements on pain management in March, the volume of calls coming in the LIFE Project HelpLine has doubled.
Stacie Ogborn, Project Operations Manager of the LIFE Project, fields 99% of the calls coming in to the HelpLine. “Kansans in pain are seeing these PSAs on television and hearing them on radio, and they’re calling in immediately. Over and over I have heard these consumers, most of whom are chronic pain sufferers who are frustrated and exasperated by the system, say, ‘Thank you---for just listening!’” Some callers are referred to Dr. Bob Twillman who staffs the Pain Hotline (913-588-3692). Twillman has also felt the ripple effects of this media campaign and has witnessed a significant increase in the number of calls to the Pain Hotline.
To date, KAB members have contributed $186,000 in airtime to this campaign! The LIFE Project thanks the members of the KAB for their continued commitment to helping Kansans live well as they near the end of life. These stations offer this support to the citizens of their communities, and the LIFE Project is very grateful. The need for information is evident, and our friends at KAB are helping to connect Kansans with the information they need.
CARING COMMUNITIES POISED FOR ACTION
LIFE’s grassroots coalitions moving forward with plans for 2003 and beyond
Representatives from the Caring Communities participated in a conference call on Monday, November 25, to continue planning the LIFE Project’s strategies to take full advantage of the resources available through the Rallying Points Certificate Program during 2003 and 2004. Plans are underway for the LIFE Project to utilize geographic “clusters” of community coalitions to bring strategic interventions to locations all across the state.
“The premise,” says Bales, “is to be as ‘travel-friendly’ as possible, so that communities in the frontier areas of the state have as equal access to these quality Rallying Points programs as those is more populated areas.” By sharing resources over a regional area, the LIFE Project Caring Communities hope to make more of an impact in the communities that are already engaged and those that are interested in organizing a grassroots campaign.
Caring Communities have been planning these strategies for a number of months. Since the October and November meetings of Caring Communities, Bales has been in touch with Rallying Points’ staff and is working on finalizing the overall plans for 2003.
LIFE Project Caring Communities are preparing to work together in planning, improving pain management and engaging and learning from Kansans. Caring Communities should expect to hear from the LIFE Project within the next few weeks and will then begin to apply for certificates and set dates for the activities.
LIFE PROJECT PAIN CAMPAIGN FEATURED ON KPTS
Donna Bales is interviewed for December 13 “On the Record” segment
KPTS, the Wichita public television affiliate, taped a 30-minute program on LIFE's “Every Kansan should expect good pain management” campaign. The show was taped and aired on December 13 and will be broadcast again at some future date. The LIFE Project thanks KPTS for their continuing partnership. They have also given LIFE the liberty to use the program in our Caring Communities and other venues; we'll be following up with details on that soon.
****NOTES****
* Karren Weichert, Executive Director of Midland Hospice Care in Topeka, was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Congratulations, Karren!
* Hospice Care of Kansas was recently awarded the 2002 Metro Award by the Wichita Business Journal for having the largest three-year growth rate in the Wichita area. Congratulations to Mark Rowe and his staff for their accomplishment!
* Wenche Malcolm, outreach educator for Hospice Care of Kansas, was among 10 registered nurses in Kansas and the Kansas City area to be recognized at the 12th annual “Heart of Healthcare” nursing banquet on November 1 in Kansas City.
NOTE: If you have any announcements to add to our calendar, please forward them to Stacie Ogborn by the 10th of the month: LIFE Project, 1901 University, Wichita, KS 67212, Fax # (316) 263-6542, or submit them by email to: stacie@lifeproject.org.