LIFE line            November, 2000

Updates from the Kansas LIFE Project

• Sandy Kuhlman, chair of the Caring Communities, has recently announced that a statewide steering committee has been formed to help coordinate and communicate the ongoing efforts of the Caring Communities.   Sandy will chair the steering committee and will also co-chair the LIFE Project Public Engagement and Education Task Group, according to Jan Brandom, LIFE Project Manager.

• If you are looking for ways to inform the members of your organization on what the LIFE Project is all about, why not consider distributing LIFE Project wall charts and bookmarks?  The wall charts are approximately 20” x 20” and are ideal for libraries, physician’s exam rooms, and other public places.  The bookmarks are 2” x 5” and would be very suitable for pharmacy counters, waiting rooms, etc.  Call the LIFE Project today and let us know how many you need!

• Please make note of the new email addresses for the LIFE Project staff: 

Jan Brandom, jan@lifeproject.org;

June Miller, june@lifeproject.org;

Stacie Ogborn, stacie@lifeproject.org;

Donna Bales, donna@lifeproject.org. 

(Donna will also continue to use livewell@southwind.net until further notice.)

UPCOMING END-OF-LIFE CARE EVENTS  *

·        The December 20 episode of the ABC television series, Gideon’s Crossing, focuses on the difficult decisions families must make when a loved one is near death.  The drama, based on a real life story, also plainly outlines the elements of palliative care and the case for allowing a natural death, a rare occurrence on television. 

·        Log on to www.barnesandnobleuniversity.com for a 3-week online course titled, “Our Grace in Dying.”  The course is scheduled to begin January 8, 2001, with online enrollment beginning December 15.  The course is listed in the “Life Improvement” category on the website.

·        The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is underwriting a rallying conference for the Moyers series in Newport Beach, CA, January 8-9, 2001.  The LIFE Project and Caring Communities will be well represented, as more than forty Kansans are registered to attend the summit conference entitled, “Improving Community End-of-Life Care Through Coalitions.”

·        The Public Policy Task Group will meet on Thursday, January 11, 2001, from 10:00 – Noon at the Special Events Room at the Newman Memorial County Hospital in Emporia.  The task group is actively working to encourage Kansans to complete advance directives and talk about their wishes with family and friends.  They are also supporting the forthcoming improvements to Kansas’ guardianship statutes.  Task Group members will receive materials regarding this meeting in a few weeks.

·        KFDA will host a Caregiver Seminar at the Holidome in Salina on January 18, 2001, featuring Marcia Lattanzi, co-founder of Boulder County Hospice, Colorado.  Featured topics include “The Challenges of Caregiving” and “Difficult Conversations:  Talking about End-of-Life Concerns.”  Please contact KFDA at (785) 232-7789 for more information.

·    The Pain Management Task Group will meet on Friday, January 26, 2001, from 11:00 – 2:00 at the Health Alliance Video Conferencing Center in Topeka.  Final editing will be made to the pain management resource manuals being used at the April training seminar (see below).

·    The LIFE Project public awareness campaign will begin in January.  Look for public service announcements airing on local television and radio stations and in print in newspapers statewide.  Thanks to the Kansas Association of Broadcasters and the Kansas Press Association for their continued support of the LIFE Project.

·        Ruben Krisztal, attorney from Shawnee Mission, Kansas, will be speaking at the Nursing Home Litigation Conference, January 24-25, 2001, in Naples, Florida.

·        Stories at Work, presented by the Kansas Humanities Council and the Manhattan Caring Community, will conduct a four-hour workshop for nurses, social workers, pastors, and concerned citizens February 12-13, 2001, at Peace Lutheran Church in Manhattan.   For registration information, please call (785) 539-1610.   We encourage all Caring Communities to contact Victoria Sherry with KHC at (785) 357-0359 to arrange for Stories at Work to come to your community.

·        The annual meeting of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHCPO) will be held March 23-26 in Orlando, Florida.

·        The Pain Protocol Work Group will host a pain management seminar for acute and long-term care administrators and mid-level managers April 4-5, 2001, at Central Community Church in Wichita.  The symposium, titled “Building an Institutional 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.  Look for more details in January.

·        The Hospice Foundation of America will broadcast a national bereavement teleconference, “Living with Grief,” April 18, 2001, from 1:30-4:00 pm (EDT).  The teleconference will be moderated by ABC News correspondent, Cokie Roberts.  Please visit the HFA website for more information:  www.hospicefoundation.org.

·        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 LIFE Project statewide Caring Community Spring Retreat will be held April 27-28, 2001, in Wichita.

·    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.”

·        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.

·    AARP of Kansas will host a conference on grief and loss in mid-July.  Stay tuned for more details.

*   If you have any announcements to add to our calendar, please forward them to Stacie Ogborn at the LIFE Project, 1901 W. University, Wichita, KS  67212, Fax # (316) 263-6542, or submit them by email to:  stacie@lifeproject.org.