Hospice Foundation of America
E-Newsletter
Volume 8, Issue 1
January 2008
http://www.hospicefoundation.org
January 2008
In this issue:
- Message from David Abrams, President/CEO
- Focus on: Communicating with Families about Death and Grief
- What's New @ HFA
- What's New @ HFA's Hospice and Caregiving Blog
- Living With Grief: Children and Adolescents
- Host a Downlink Site!
Message from David Abrams, President/CEO
On behalf of the Directors and Staff of Hospice Foundation of America, I wish a Happy New Year to our readers and their families. HFA staff looks forward to another year of providing professionals and consumers with the best information and resources about hospice care, end-of-life issues, and grief.
As we continue working towards our 15th annual National Bereavement Teleconference, I want to take a moment to thank the organizations that are supporting this year’s teleconference. The program is sponsored by The Foundation for End-of-Life Care, and presented in cooperation with Adventist Communications Network; Association for Death Education and Counseling; The Compassionate Friends; Department of Veterans Affairs Employee Education System; and the National Association of Social Workers. Watch for more information about these partners in our February e-newsletter.
If you haven't had a chance to check out HFA's blog, I encourage you to do so at http://www.hospicefoundation.org/blog
The blog highlights interesting issues that are current in the fields of hospice and caregiving, and also includes personal postings by hospice staff and other excellent writers in the field of death and dying.
Focus on: Communicating with Families about Death and Grief
Caring for a loved one who is facing death can be an overwhelming experience for families. Read an interview with Vince Chiles, a hospice supervisor for Covenant Home Care, about overcoming the barriers to accepting hospice care, and how hospice professionals can support families through the dying process.
HFA is pleased to announce a new publication, The Dying Process: A Guide for Caregivers. Many who are caring for a terminally ill person have never done it before. The Dying Process prepares caregivers by discussing both the physical symptoms of dying and the psychological issues that accompany the dying process. The Dying Process guide can serve as a sensitive, helpful resource for families who are being served by hospice. Hospices and other end-of-life organizations can also use the guide as a helpful training aid for staff and volunteers.
Learn more and order online here.
What's New @ HFA's Hospice and Caregiving Blog
HFA's Hospice and Caregiving Blog www.hospicefoundation.org/blog gathers and disseminates information useful to professionals and consumers from a single destination. Our goals are to inform, offer support, and generate online comments about important end-of life issues. Read some of the blog's most recent postings:
- HFA's 2008 Call for Artwork Garners a Big Response
- Rosalynn Carter's Editorial on the Needs of Caregivers
- Help for Hospice Angels
Living With Grief: Children and Adolescents
HFA's 15th annual National Bereavement Teleconference, Living With Grief: Children and Adolescents, will be broadcast Wednesday, April 16, 2008. HFA's 2008 Teleconference will focus on the experience of grieving children and adolescents and the ways that hospice professionals, teachers and school administrators, grief counselors, funeral directors, and parents can best support these populations as they cope with loss and grief. The program and newly published book will focus on the most current theories and practices in this area, and as always will combine academic research with hands-on ideas for use in hospice support groups and other settings.
Registered sites can be found on HFA's Find-A-Site database.
This list is updated on a weekly basis so if there isn't a site near you, please check back in a few days.
If you haven't done so before, HFA encourages you to consider hosting a downlink site for the 2008 teleconference. Read some FAQs about the teleconference to learn about the benefits and the technical requirements of hosting. Please contact us at telecon@hospicefoundation.org if you have any questions or need more information.
Please Note: The Site Coordinator registration form is available from a link on the homepage of our website, www.hospicefoundation.org, or directly here. This year, you can register and pay the materials fee online with a credit card. Alternatively, you may download the application from HFA's website and mail it to us with a check, money order, or credit card to our Washington, DC address. After we receive your registration and materials payment, you will receive a detailed Site Coordinator's Manual in the mail and a password to access teleconference materials on our website.
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