LIFEline January, 2002
(Living Initiatives For End-of-Life Care)
LIFE Project to Sponsor Fall Meeting on “The Future of End-of-Life Care”
· The Kansas LIFE Project Foundation will host a two-day seminar on “The Future of End-of-Life Care in Kansas,” October 22-23, 2002, at the Hyatt Regency in Wichita, Kansas. This statewide event will bring together a diverse audience of professional healthcare providers, public policymakers, consumers and other stakeholders as they undertake finding solutions to the critical end-of-life issues facing Kansans.
Day 1 of the conference will include national keynote speakers who will address the future of end-of-life issues as they pertain to the LIFE Project’s three main objectives: professional education, public policy, and public engagement. Already confirmed to speak: Karen Orloff Kaplan, President & CEO of Partnership for Caring and National Program Director of Last Acts. As we look toward the future, Ms. Kaplan and other experts will provide a challenge and focus that will inform us as we continue our mission to improve end-of-life care.
Day 2 of the conference will feature half-day symposiums on issues of special interest to various LIFE Project Partners, including pain management and community engagement.
More details to come………..Mark your calendars now!
· In response to the request for additional copies of the Kansas version of the “Making Choices” video, we have made arrangements to provide them for $39.95 (plus $7 shipping and handling). This 15-minute video, which was unveiled at the October 26 Project Partners Meeting in Topeka, illustrates the struggles people have encountered with their loved ones who are facing end-of-life decisions. The process of documenting a person’s wishes and the ways it can be done are also examined. This moving video is a sensitive way to begin a discussion about a very difficult subject. The LIFE Project will be accepting orders twice a year, beginning in January. Please contact Jan Brandom at the Project office (phone 316-263-6380) by Jan. 29 to order your copy!
· Hospice Inc. of Wichita has been renamed to honor one of its founders, Harry E. Hynes, MD. Effective immediately, the organization will be Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice. For more information, please visit their website at www.hynesmemorial.org.
Med School Physician to Lead Advance Directives Workshop
· Phillip Allen, MD, PhD, will guide consumers through the simple preparations needed to ensure that those you trust will have authority to make medical decisions on your behalf. Dr. Allen will give a physician’s viewpoint of why advance directives are so important for you and your loved ones during “When You Are Unable to Make Your Own Medical Decisions: A Doctor’s View of Advance Directives,” the first talk in the spring Live & Learn series at the University of Kansas School of Medicine – Wichita. The community forum will be Thursday, January 31 from 5:30-7:30 pm at the KU School of Medicine, 1010 N. Kansas, Wichita. Cost: $10. For more information or to register, visit the website at http://wichita.kumc.edu/ or call (316) 293-2643.
LIFE Project Website Has Successful Year
· The LIFE Project website, www.lifeproject.org, has received 107,052 hits since being launched in September 2000. Averaging 6,691 hits per month, the most active months to date have been October 2001 (12,826 hits), September 2000 (12,487 hits) and October 2000 (10,244 hits). Internet users continue to download the available multi-media slide shows presentations on pain management, advance care planning, and other end-of-life issues.
2002 Activities Planned for Caring Communities
· Special emphasis will be given in the upcoming year to actively engage the faith communities. Steve Jeffers, Outreach Chaplain at Shawnee Mission Medical Center, has assembled resources for the Caring Communities to use and will lead an instructional conference call on Friday, February 1 at 10:30 am. Representatives from the Caring Communities have recently received detailed information on the call.
· The Caring Communities are also being asked to help promote the upcoming PBS series on caregiving, “And Thou Shalt Honor.” Scheduled for fall 2002, community outreach is being handled by the PR firm, Barksdale Ballard. To view plans for this broadcast as they become available, please visit the program website often: www.pbscaregiving.org.
***Notes from the LIFE Project***
· Sound Partners for Community Health recently released a Call for Proposals for grants offered to public broadcasters to produce health programming and outreach in partnership with community organizations. Applicants must choose one topic from the following five: Strengthening Community During Difficult Times, Improving Quality Care, Caring for the Chronically Ill, New Approaches to Reducing Addiction, and Providing Health Care for Children. For more information go to their website at www.soundpartners.org or contact Judy Haxton (jlhaxton@aol.com) at (301) 565-0805. Application deadline is February 1, 2002.
· The Resource Center for Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center has launched a new Live Webcast Series for family and friends caring for medically ill patients. The next webcast will be February 12, 2002, from 1:00-2:00 pm (EST). The six FREE monthly seminars will provide practical information from experts in the field via the Internet or telephone access. They will include interactive sessions with a lecture and question/answer session. Planned topics for February and March will include “Managing Pain and Other Symptoms at Home: What Caregivers Want to Know” (facilitated by Russell Portenoy, MD, Chairman of the Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center) and “Making Treatment Plans and Decisions: Caregivers’ Roles and Rights” (hosted by Karen Orloff Kaplan, MPH, SCD, President and CEO, Partnership for Caring, and National Program Director for Last Acts).
For more information visit www.stoppain.org. To register, please email Ann Goelitz at Agoelitz@bethisraelny.org or call (212) 844-1502.
UPCOMING EVENTS: For a complete listing of upcoming seminars, conferences and courses being offered on end-of-life or related issues, please visit our website at www.lifeproject.org/_news_calendar.htm.
L signifies event of LIFE Project Partner and/or LIFE Project.
January 30 The Department of Education at Via Christi Regional Medical Center in Wichita presents “Improving Care at the End of Life: Goals of Care & Ethical/Legal Issues,” from 8:30 am – 3:30 pm, January 30, at the St. Joseph Campus, McNamara Center – 3rd Floor. Presenters: Gerald Brungardt, MD, Alice Thornton-Bell, RN, MPA, Nancy Cook, RN, and Rebecca Applebaugh, RN, MSN. Call (800) 362-0070 ext. 5646 for more information.
February 12 Live Webcast Series from the Resource Center for Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center, 1:00-2:00 pm (EST), “Managing Pain and Other Symptoms at Home: What Caregivers Want to Know,” facilitated by Russell Portenoy, MD, Chairman of the Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center. For more information visit www.stoppain.org. To register, please email Ann Goelitz at Agoelitz@bethisraelhy.org or call (212) 844-1502.
February 21-23 The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) will host its first 2002 training session, “Planning a Hospital-Based Palliative Care Program” in Tampa, Florida. To learn more about this educational opportunity, please call (212) 241-9090.
February 26 The Department of Education at Via Christi Regional Medical Center in Wichita presents “Improving Care at the End of Life: Pain Management,” from 8:30 am – 3:30 pm, St. Francis Campus, Holt Conference Room – 2nd Floor. Presenters: Doris Kimbrell, RN, MSN, and Rebecca Applebaugh, RN, MSN. Call (800) 362-0070 ext. 5646 for more information.
March 8 The Association of Kansas Hospices Member Meeting, 10:00 a.m., Midland Hospice, Topeka, KS. AKH members will be able to discuss hospice Medicare issues with Susan Jesse Pennington from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (formerly HCFA). AKH members are encouraged to identify questions regarding the Medicare Hospice Benefit and send them to Jan at the LIFE Project (email: jan@lifeproject.org). Jan will forward them to Ms. Pennington prior to the March 8 meeting.
March 11-13 A three-day workshop will be held in Chicago, IL, sponsored by the National Residency End of Life Education Project and EPERC (End of Life Physician Education Resource Center, www.eperc.mcw.edu). The workshop is intended for teaching faculty, residency program and medical student clerkship directors, palliative care experts and others interested in improving end of life physician education and will include a 1-day EPEC course and two days of plenary presentations. For meeting information contact Dr. David Weissman (dweissmn@mcw.edu) or Lisa Pelzek-Braun (lpelzek@mcw.edu), (414) 805-4605.
March 12 Live Webcast Series from the Resource Center for Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center, 1:00-2:00 pm (EST), “Making Treatment Plans and Decisions: Caregivers’ Roles and Rights,” hosted by Karen Orloff Kaplan, MPH, SCD, President and CEO, Partnership for Caring, and National Program Director for Last Acts. For more information visit www.stoppain.org. To register, please email Ann Goelitz at Agoelitz@bethisraelhy.org or call (212) 844-1502.
March 14 The Department of Education at Via Christi Regional Medical Center in Wichita presents “Improving Care at the End of Life: Symptom Management and Active Dying” from 8:30 am – 3:30 pm, at the St. Francis Campus, Holt Conference Room – 2nd Floor. Presenters: Gerald Brungardt, MD, Alice Thornton-Bell, RN, MPA, Doris Kimbrell, RN, MSN, and Rebecca Applebaugh, RN, MSN. Call (800) 362-0070 ext. 5646 for more information.
April 5-7 Become an EPEC Trainer, Eldorado Hotel, Santa Fe, New Mexico, sponsored by the EPEC (Education for Physicians on End-of-Life Care) Project. Approaches to the full EPEC curriculum will be demonstrated and discussed. For a conference brochure, please call (877) 524-3732 or (312) 503-3732.
April 19-20 L Newman Regional Health and the Kansas State Nurses Association will jointly sponsor an ELNEC (End-of-Life Nurses Education Consortium) “Train-the-Trainer” course. Advance registration is $70 for the course (10 CE’s provided). Please contact Cathy Pimple at ESU for additional information: (620) 343-6800, ext. 5648.
April 24 The Department of Education at Via Christi Regional Medical Center in Wichita presents “Improving Care at the End of Life: Cultural Considerations & Communications,” from 8:30 am – 3:30 pm, Holt Conference Room – 2nd Floor. Presenters: Michelle Shaheen, LSCSW, Alice Thornton-Bell, RN, MPA, Doris Kimbrell, RN, MSN. Please call (800) 362-0070 ext. 5646 for more information.
April 24 Hospice Foundation of America presents the Ninth Annual Living With Grief Teleconference, moderated by Cokie Roberts. “Loss in Later Life” will be presented from 1:30-4:00 pm (EST) live via satellite. For a complete list of host sites visit www.hospicefoundation.org.
May 1-2 Governor’s Conference on Aging, Topeka, KS.
* 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.