LIFEline June, 2002
Living Initiatives For End-of-Life Care
EXCITING PLANS FOR “THE FUTURE OF END-OF-LIFE CARE”
The LIFE Project Partner’s annual meeting for 2002 marks the end of five years for the LIFE Project and will offer Project Partners a forum for celebration, networking, visioning and planning!
LIFE Project Partners meet annually to review the combined efforts of the Project Partners and task groups and to provide focus for our future activities. Together, we are making a difference and improving care for Kansans as they near the end of life. This year, our annual meeting will mark the end of the fifth year of the LIFE Project. We first convened in February of 1998 and met monthly to discuss and learn together. During 1999, LIFE Project Partners engaged in an active year of planning and developing strategies for initiatives. From 2000 – 2002, LIFE has been actively engaged in implementing a variety of initiatives related to public policy, professional education and pubic engagement.
“The Future of End-of-Life Care,” October 22-23, 2002, at the Hyatt Regency in Wichita, Kansas, is this year’s very special annual meeting. The goals of the meeting are to:
- Convene LIFE Project Partners for celebrating, networking and reviewing the accomplishments of these first five years;
- Get new perspectives by learning more, from key leaders, about developments, emerging trends, challenges and issues in end-of-life care; and
- Gain vision and clarity for the future work of the LIFE Project.
Presentations by national keynote speakers 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. Dan Tobin, MD, Director of The Life Institute/VA HealthCare Network Upstate New York at Albany, and Mary Labyak, MSSW, LCSW, President/Executive Director, The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast, will address the challenges and opportunities related creating successful models for every aspect of the end-of-life care movement, including palliative care delivery, delivery systems, payment systems, advance care planning with physician-patient-family included, consumer engagement, and public policy. As we look toward the future, Tobin, Labyak and LIFE’s experts from Kansas will provide a challenge and focus that will inform us as we continue our mission to improve end-of-life care, and, in particular, meet the challenges facing Kansas caregivers.
We encourage all Project Partners to plan for representation at this important gathering. The LIFE Project thanks those who have already signed up as exhibitors and sponsors and invites others to join in this effort. If your organization is interested in exhibiting or providing financial resources, please contact Stacie Ogborn as soon as possible. Space is limited.
HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS ATTEND EPEC TRAINING
In its third year of implementation, LIFE’s EPEC drew 26 participants from nine Kansas counties.
Twenty-six healthcare professionals (including 11 physicians) participated in a two-day intensive EPEC (Education for Physicians on End-of-life Care) session May 2-3 hosted by the LIFE Project and University of Kansas School of Medicine. Providers from the following Kansas counties attended: Allen, Chase, Clay, Cloud, Brown, Butler, Cowley, Chautauqua, and Johnson. Thanks to Gary Doolittle, MD, and staff at KUMC for their ongoing leadership and partnership with the LIFE Project. The LIFE Project extends its appreciation to the Foundation for Hospice Care for their generous support of LIFE’s EPEC training.
CARING COMMUNITIES PLAN FOR FUTURE ACTION
RWJF’s Rallying Points brings new resources to support LIFE’s Caring Communities.
The LIFE Project Caring Communities met on June 6 to strategize and plan for continued action to engage Kansans in planning for and expecting good care at the end-of-life Focus and attention was given to planning for best utilization of Rallying Points, a new initiative, under the leadership of Last Acts, of the Robert Wood Johnson foundation. The program will provide expert consultation on a broad range of topics, such as coalition building, diversity and cultural awareness, fundraising and grant development, evaluating outcomes, community assessment, policy change strategies, and strategic planning. Active coalitions that are registered with Rallying Points will be eligible for expert consultation sessions/programs.
In addition to bringing resources to the local coalitions, there are three regional resource centers across the country, including Midwest Bioethics Center in Kansas City (telephone 1-800-344-3829), which serves as the Midwest Regional Resource Center. The resource centers will work to support coalitions and help create a stronger network of community coalitions across the country.
According to Donna Bales, “The Caring Communities have achieved amazing success during the past three years. These local coalitions continue to use very innovative methods to reach citizens in their communities. The enthusiasm, leadership and creativity – all across Kansas – continues to serve as a model for many others. Rallying Points brings access to continuing leadership development. We hope to make the most of this opportunity in our state.”
Bales and the LIFE Project have been selected to provide consulting programs for Rallying Points. Bales is working with other Project Partners to create programs for Stories at Work, engaging the faith community, improving pain management and building strong community coalitions, based on the Caring Communities model. On June 17, Caring Communities gathered in Topeka to continue the planning, to move forward in determining greatest shared needs among the local coalitions and to create a process to help Caring Communities work together to maximize the opportunities that Rallying Points bring.
Community-State Partnerships Convene in Phoenix for Annual Meeting
LIFE Project staff focus on networking, planning and future action.
LIFE Project staff members Donna Bales and Stacie Ogborn joined representatives from the 24 Community-State Partnerships to Improve End-of-Life Care met in Phoenix May 22-24 for their annual meeting. Presentations were given by many of the powerhouses in the national end-of-life care movement, including: Dr. Kathleen Foley, Project on Death in America; Vicki Weisfeld, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Dr. Dan Tobin, The LIFE Institute/Coordinated Care Center VA Healthcare Network; Mary Labyak, The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast; and Myra Christopher, Midwest Bioethics Center. RWJF funding for CSP programs is scheduled to end next year, but Kansas leaders are focused on continuing statewide efforts to help Kansans live with dignity, comfort and peace at the end of life.
CARING COMMUNITIES CONTINUE ACTIVISM AND IMPROVE CARE
Local coalitions remain actively engaged, logging more than 2000 In-Kind Hours in 2002.
LIFE’s public relations intern, Lisa Sparks, contacted representatives of the LIFE Project Caring Communities in May to get an update on their activities. The in-kind hours for the year have been tabulated -- a total of 2090.5 hours have been logged since the beginning of the year. Way to go Caring Communities! We are so grateful for your efforts. Here is a sampling of what just some of the Caring Communities have been up to:
· Lawrence reports that six nurses from Lawrence attended the ELNEC training held in Emporia April 19-20. The council is very active and meets regularly. Donna Bales met with the group in May, when they aired a preview excerpt and discussed ways to promote the upcoming PBS special “And Thou Shalt Honor.”
· Oskaloosa reports that four community hospice nurses attended the Emporia ELNEC training.
· Phillipsburg reports that a physician team from their community attended LIFE’s EPEC training held May 2-3 at the KU Med. Center in Kansas City. Sandy Kuhlman, Phillipsburg, and Nadereh Nasseri, Lawrence, made a presentation on ELNEC at the Governor’s Conference on Aging.
· Topeka invited Donna Bales to share with the Topeka Area Continuity of Care (TACC) on May 14. TACC is a group of health care professionals from all venues. Connie Wood, from Stormont-Vail, has assumed a key leadership role in the Topeka Caring Community and will be working with Steve Pontoski and other members of the council to determine appropriate activities for the capitol city.
· Wichita has been busy putting together a “caregiving showcase” to be broadcast on local television this fall. Several presentations have been made throughout the community.
NOTE: If your community coalition has a special event or other activity coming up, please allow us to include it in our Calendar of Events. Send specific details about your event to Stacie Ogborn at the LIFE Project (email: stacie@lifeproject.org).
***Notes and Calendar from the LIFE Project***
The University of Washington School of Nursing has announced that the Toolkit for Nurturing Excellence at End-of-Life (TNEEL) is now available on CD-Rom. TNEEL is an innovative, easy-to-access, teacher- and learner-friendly package of electronic tools for palliative care education. TNEEL content is presented in six modules with a focus on individual and cultural diversity, life span, family-centered care, collaboration, interdisciplinary care, setting and system of care, values and attitudes. If interested, send an email to tneel@u.washington.edu or go to: www.son.washington.edu/departments/bnhs/pain/tneel.asp.
UPCOMING EVENTS: L designates an event sponsored by the LIFE Project or a LIFE Project Partner.
Aug. 9 Carolyn Harrison from Kansas Health Ethics will discuss end-of-life issues, life-sustaining treatment, and advance directives in “End-of-Life: Talk About It,” from 2:30-4:00 pm at the Via Christi-Ridge Plaza Education Center, 3636 N. Ridge Rd. in Wichita. There is no fee for this class. Call the Via Christi Health Connection at 316-689-5700 to enroll.
Aug. 23 “Cancer in the Family,” a clinical conference in health and Bowen Family Systems Theory, will be held at the K-State Union in Manhattan from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. Sponsored by the KSU Cancer Center, CE credits will be available for mental health professionals and nurses. For more information contact the KSU Cancer Center at 785-532-6705, or email jangal@ksu.edu.
Sept. 19 The National Board of Certification for Hospice and Palliative Care Nurses (NBCHPN) has announced that the Certification Examination for Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing Assistants will be held Saturday, Sept. 19 at 30 locations around the country. For a copy of the Candidate Handbook call toll-free, 1-888-519-9901, or visit www.hpna.org/NBCHPN/NA_downloads.htm. Application deadline for the test is August 1.
Sept. 26 Dr. Tom Welk of Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice and Carolyn Harrison of Kansas Health Ethics, both in Wichita, will conduct a seminar in Holton, KS, sponsored by the Holton Caring Community Council. Stay tuned for more details.
October 7-8 L The combined annual meeting of the Association of Kansas Hospices and the Missouri Hospice Organization will be held in Kansas City. Please contact Cindy VanBiber at MHO for conference details (telephone: 816-350-7702, email: cindy@mohospice.org).
October 9 “And Thou Shalt Honor,” a PBS special on caregiving hosted by Joe Mantegna, will air at 9:00 p.m. (EST). The program documents an exciting new stage in our cultural development. While the huge increase in the number of caregivers in our society can be said to be a result of the success of medical technology, it also represents a breakthrough in our growth as an extended family. Many, if not most, of us will be complete two roles in our lifetimes -- caregiver and the cared-for. We may slip into these roles so gradually that we scarcely realize it. Or, as the social scientists say, we may not self-identify. “ATSH” examines the various aspects of caregiving in a warm and caring documentary.
October 22-23 L LIFE Project Annual Meeting, “The Future of End-of-Life Care,” will be held at the Hyatt Regency, Wichita. Keynote speakers: Dr. Dan Tobin and Mary Labyak, MSSW, LCSW. Rallying Points will host an Oct. 22 banquet and a breakfast meeting on Oct. 23 for members of community coalitions attending the conference. Watch for registration details coming soon in the mail and on the LIFE Project website.
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.
* 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.