Reaching Out to Underserved Populations

Although the number of people seeking hospice care has increased in each of the last few years, there are still too many people who would benefit from but don’t receive those services. In “Reaching Out to Underserved Populations” we’ll show you how a hospice in Pittsburgh is working to improve access to care by African Americans, a hospice in San Antonio that has a program tailored to the needs of veterans, and a hospice in northwest Arkansas struggling to keep up with the demands of a fast-growing community.

Watch the video below, on HFA's YouTube Channel, at the Hospice Information Center or in iTunes.

Beyond Kübler-Ross: New Perspectives on Death, Dying, and Grief

Hospice Foundation of America announces their first New Perspectives program - Beyond Kübler-Ross: New Perspectives on Death, Dying, and Grief. The program will be shown in communities across the United States and Canada beginning on November 10, 2011.

Beyond Kübler-Ross: New Perspectives on Death, Dying, and Grief will explore the most current theoretical perspectives on dying, death, and grief, emphasizing areas where understandings of dying, death, and grief have been challenged and developed since the 1969 publication of Kübler-Ross’ epochal work, On Death and Dying. The presentation emphasizes the practice implications of these new perspectives and would be useful to a range of professionals who counsel persons who are dying or bereaved, including psychologists, counselors, clergy, social workers, nurses, physicians and other health care workers, as well as educators, teachers and school-based personnel. In addition, it would benefit individuals who offer education on loss, grief, dying or death. For more information, including anticipated board approvals, panelists and learning objectives, see the HFA website.

Interested in showing the program to Your Community?

Registration is now open. Available only on DVD, the program can be shown according to your schedule beginning on November 10, 2011. CE's are available for an entire year for your audience (November 10, 2011 until November 10, 2012).

Early Registration ($135) is available until July 20, 2011!
Registration includes:

• one full-length DVD (2 hours)
• availability to show the program as many times as you wish throughout the year - to your registered site location(s) only.
• a detailed Site Coordinator's Manual
• 35 Program Guides (with a tip & resource sheet included)
• access to a media kit to help you publicize the event in your area
• a discount coupon for the program's companion book, as well as additional useful program materials

Each registered site coordinator will also receive a complimentary review copy of the 2011 Beyond Kübler-Ross: New Perspectives on Death, Dying, and Grief book, which features chapters by experts in areas related to the program topic.

Order the 'Combination Package' and save! Available only until September 14, 2011, you can receive access to two programs for only $250. HFA's 2011 Combination Package includes:

• HFA's New Perspectives program, "Beyond Kübler-Ross: New Perspectives on Death, Dying, and Grief," and
• HFA's Spring Living With Grief^® program, "End-of-Life Ethics," a 2.5 hour DVD.

Register online now or complete the paper registration form and return to HFA via fax or mail.

Grieving the Loss of a Father - on Father’s Day

Actually, Father’s Day can be a difficult time for someone grieving the loss of either parent. It also can be awkward for friends and family wondering what to do with - or say to - the grieving person on this special day. We hope that you will join those who have found the following suggestions to be helpful in similar circumstances.

Download this information as a tipsheet for you or your organization, including Support for you and Support for a friend who has lost a father. An excerpt:

Ways to remember your father

• Take part in an activity that your father would appreciate


• Go to a location that holds special memories of him


• Remember your father with a special meal


• Was there a tradition that he especially enjoyed on Father’s Day? If so, is there a way you can take part in that in some way?


• Use the day to share stories of your father with other members of the family, especially younger generations that might not have known him well


• Make a financial gift to an organization that he supported


• Take flowers to your father’s gravesite


• Give flowers to your faith community in his memory


• Listen to music that your father enjoyed


• Support a community cause that was important to your father

Download the complete tipsheet for you or your organization, including Support for you and Support for a friend who has lost a father.

Philip Carpenter, MDiv, Program Officer & Bereavement Specialist, HFA

A Caregiver’s Guide to the Dying Process

Many people who are caring for a terminally ill person have never done it before. A Caregiver’s Guide to the Dying Process can serve as a sensitive, helpful resource for families who are being served by hospice. A Caregiver’s Guide prepares caregivers by discussing both the physical symptoms of dying and the psychological issues that accompany the dying process. It may also be used by hospices and other end-of-life organizations as a helpful training aid for staff and volunteers.

HFA’s bereavement and medical experts have enhanced the previously titled The Dying Process, A Guide for Caregivers to present information in a way that is less clinical and intimidating to those who are caring for a loved one at the end of life. In addition to the enhanced information, HFA has given the booklet a new, easy to read layout and title.

The Caregiver’s Guide is just one of the many offerings made available through HFA to help the thousands of patients, families and loved ones who are left feeling confused, scared and alone during the end of life process. Through our print materials, webinars, online educational tools and children’s outreach programs, HFA strives to lead the nation in hospice outreach and end-of-life care education. It is our hope that this product will provide valuable information and comfort to those individuals and families facing end of life challenges.

A Caregiver’s Guide to the Dying Process is now available for purchase at our online store.  Bulk orders are available in packages of 50 or 100 to organizations that wish to distribute the guide among their patients and families.

Interested in Finding Quality Hospice Care?

The founding fathers wrote that all men are created equal; not so when it comes to hospices. Although all hospices must meet certain standards to provide care, many choose to go beyond what is required in order to offer patients and families an optimal experience. You may not be able to “kick the tires” but this program can give you an idea of what to look for and ask about when choosing a provider.

Watch the video below, on HFA's YouTube Channel, at the Hospice Information Center or in iTunes.

Pain Management around the World

Human Rights Watch released a report June 1 detailing global access to medicine and palliative care.

Experts estimate that 60 percent of those who die each year in low- and middle-income countries - a staggering 33 million people - need palliative care. In these countries, most cancer patients are diagnosed when they already have advanced disease and can no longer be cured. The only treatment option is palliative care. In high-income countries, palliative care needs are increasing with aging populations and the resulting higher cancer incidence.

The report is based on a survey of policy barriers to palliative care in 40 countries and an assessment of the availability of pain-relieving drugs worldwide.

Focus on Spiritual Meaning-Making at the End of Life

The Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) will present a live, online webinar focusing on Leaving Legacies: Meaning-Making Techniques on Wednesday, June 8 from 1pm – 2:30pm ET. This webinar explores a number of techniques for enhancing spirituality and meaning-making at the end of life, including Dignity Enhancement Therapy, Meaning-Centered Therapy, Living Eulogies and other approaches that assist dying persons in affirming a sense personal significance and meaning. The program also looks at the role of the funeral in the meaning-making process. The live online webinar features Kenneth Doka, PhD, MDiv; Gary Fink, DMin, MAHL, DD; and Lawrence Michael.
"One important spiritual need of those who are dying is to have a sense of having lived a meaningful life," states Dr. Kenneth Doka, Senior Bereavement Consultant at HFA. "These techniques can be used by professionals to help facilitate this process." The panelists will discuss the research supporting these techniques, as well as how to use them with clients; they will also discuss the sometimes neglected role of the funeral as a therapeutic ritual in the meaning-making process.
This webinar is the second in a three-part series. The final program of the series will focus on assisting clients facing spiritual distress at the end of life. Webinars will be accessible to registrants for a year after their live air dates. Organizations can register for the June program for $100, or register for the three-part series at a discounted price of $240. Free CEs for professionals are included for the first week after each live air date, and are only $5/participant after that date. And for an additional $10, organizations can purchase a "Bonus Package" which allows them to access the webinars and receive materials for HFA's Living With Grief Educational Program focusing on Spirituality and End-of-Life Care.
To learn more about this exciting educational offering, contact HFA at 800-854-3402 or go online. Hospice Foundation of America (www.hospicefoundation.org ) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to help those who cope personally or professionally with terminal illness, death, and the process of grief and bereavement.

Supporting Grieving Military Families

Last weekend’s Washington Post highlighted the 17^th National Military Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp. Held in Crystal City, Virginia, the weekend seminar was attended by 1,300 people, including over 470 children, who are survivors of military servicemen and women. The program is organized by the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or T.A.P.S.

Every area had bigger children racing through, each chased by an individual mentor. The mentors, all in active service, volunteered to spend their Memorial Day weekend with a child while the surviving parent attended seminars, bonded with other survivors or just took deep breaths and tried to relax.

At 8 a.m., dozens of Rolling Thunder motorcyclists rolled up and parked out front, and children poured out to try on chaps and rev Harley-Davidson engines.

“I’ve never been able to do this on a bike before,” said Noah Smith, 9, of Davenport, Iowa. “This is just awesome.”

Bob O’Leary, a biker from Newark, Ohio, said it was his fourth year of pulling into the survivor seminar for a morning, and 15th in Rolling Thunder. “We’ve got no power, but we’ve got love and compassion,” O’Leary said of his fellow bikers. “We need to show that.”

Bonnie Carroll, who founded the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors in 1994 after her husband died in a military plane crash, said the first national seminar had five attendees. Now, it seemed to fill a large hotel. Regional meetings are held around the country throughout the year, and many grieving survivors become volunteer leaders.

“When you can connect with another person who understands what you’re going through,” Carroll said, “that’s the only real therapy for grief.”

Hospice Foundation of America has had a long, supportive relationship with T.A.P.S. President Bonnie Carroll has served as a panelist on HFA’s educational programs and the organization’s Good Grief Camps have been the recipients of an HFA Grant in Support of Grieving Children and Adolescents.