Supportive
Care Coalition E-News is provided as a service to health care professionals.
The Coalition is comprised of 20 Catholic health organizations dedicated to
advancing excellence in palliative care and end-of-life care within their own
systems and throughout the nation. Our members operate health care facilities
in 48 states. Please visit us at www.supportivecarecoalition.org.
Coalition News
Seasons Greetings from Tina Picchi,
Executive Director
So many of the festivals that celebrate light occur during the height of celestial darkness in this month of December. Advent, Chanukah and Kwanza are each  celebrated around the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year because it is then that we need light the most. The Winter Solstice invites us to honor both the lightness and the darkness of our human experience, mindful that light only has meaning when it illuminates something dark. Light and darkness are two parts of the whole, cyclical in nature. In most mystical traditions, darkness and light are equally necessary aspects of creation because darkness is associated with gestation, which precedes birth and with death, which precedes resurrection.
The Winter Solstice reminds us that we are called to be bearers of light for others. As we acknowledge our own light and call forth the light in another, we become a powerful transforming presence in our world. During this sacred season, we are particularly grateful for all palliative care professionals, who carry a lantern of hope and light pathways for those suffering from serious chronic and life-limiting illness.
Coalition Member News
We are pleased to welcome Beverly L. Thomas, Interim Chief Nursing Officer, as board representative for Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System.
Shirley Heintz, former Vice President Patient Care Services of St. Francis Health Center, Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, has recently left the Coalition board. Thank you for your service, Shirley!
Fall Supportive Voice: Transitions Online!
Our fall issue of Supportive Voice focuses on Transitions, and is available online. This publication is free to member systems and distributed through board members to interested individuals within their systems. If you would like to be added to the Supportive Voice mailing list to receive a hard copy, please contact Carol River or your health system's Coalition board member. A minimum donation of $15 is suggested for non-members.
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News
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and affiliate lobbying organization, the Alliance for Care at the End of Life, urged the hospice community nationwide to reach out to members of Congress in support of the Wyden-Feingold amendment to eliminate health care reform “productivity” cuts to hospice. December 1, 2009
Opportunities
Million Nurse Project
January 1, 2010, noon everywhere
Nurses and nursing serve as an archetype of human caring in the world. Nurses are uniting during The International Year of the Nurse and Centenary of Nightingale to radiate heart-centered love and caring through individual and collective global meditations of love, caring and compassion January 1, 2010 at noon around the globe.
Led by Jean Watson, Watson Caring Science Institute
Health professionals individually or with others are invited to join in solidarity with the nurses around the world with a meditation or prayer expressing love, caring and compassion for all and asking God’s blessings of peace and healing for humankind and the earth.
National Health Care Decisions Day - April 16, 2009
National Health Care Decision Day is just four months away. Please complete the participation form to confirm your organization's commitment to supporting this initiative. Many outreach materials and suggestions are available on the NHDD Web site at "Organize Your Community."
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Readings
Long Hours, Luck and a Cast of Thousands
Joan Teno. Journal of Palliative Medicine. December 2009, 12(12): 1109-1111.
Compassionate Silence in the Patient–Clinician Encounter: A Contemplative Approach
Anthony L. Back, Susan M. Bauer-Wu, Cynda H. Rushton, Joan Halifax. Journal of Palliative Medicine. December 2009, 12(12): 1113-1117
End-of-Life Care In Hospital: A Descriptive Study of All Inpatient Deaths in One Year. J. Abel et al. Palliat Med. 2009; 23: 616-622
A British study analyzing case notes from 599 patients out of 627 people who died at one hospital from June 2006 through May 2007 found a maximum of one third of the patients could have received care at home if excellent end-of-life services were in place. More than half of the patients, 56% or 331 people, had not been assessed or considered to be in their last year of life. Of the remainder, 152 or 26% were clearly near death and 110, 18%, had significant co-morbidities that could contribute to their dying within a year. Among the 77 patients admitted from a nursing home, the researchers concluded that 69% could have stayed at the facility to die.
Notes Left Behind
By Mike Celizic, TODAYshow.com contributor
"To say that Notes Left Behind is a book about a 6-year-old girl who died is accurate, but woefully inadequate. By filling her family’s house with hidden messages of love and hope, Elena Desserich continues to celebrate life long after she succumbed to pediatric brain cancer." Read more; for additional information, please visit: lovenotesleftbehind.com
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Resources
Grief in Times of Celebration: The Empty Spot
Rev. Dr. Glen R. Horst, Canadian Virtual Hospice
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) Palliative Care Brochure
A new brochure, "Palliative Care: The Relief You Need When You’re Experiencing the Symptoms of Serious Illness," produced by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), a component of the National Institutes of Health, describes what palliative care is, who it benefits, and how it works.
Engage With Grace: The One Slide Story
Download the one slide.
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Conferences and Other
Educational Opportunities
Presented by the Supportive Care Coalition
and sponsored by the Catholic
Health Association of the United States
. . . a three-day conference
focused on advancing knowledge and best practices in palliative and
end-of-life care from the Catholic health ministry perspective.
October 28-30, 2010
St. Louis Marriott Union Station
Members of
our dynamic faculty include:
Sr. Peter Lillian DiMaria, O. Carm
Msgr. Charles Fahey
Sr. Margaret Farley, RSM, PhD
Betty Ferrell, RN, PhD, FAAN
Mary T. O’Neill,
BCC, DMin
Steven Pantilat, MD
Fr.
Myles
Sheehan
, SJ, MD
Carol Taylor, PhD, RN
Joan Teno, MD, MS
Martha Twaddle, MD, FACP, FAAHP
Continuing education credits in
multiple disciplines are pending.
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CAPC Audio Conference: Hospital Mortality Rates and Implications for Palliative Care Programs
January 13, 2010, 1:30-2:30 PM Eastern
Featured Speaker: J. Brian Cassel, PhD
Examine how hospital mortality reporting impacts palliative care programs and vice versa. Palliative care program leaders and hospital administrators must have a thorough understanding of hospital mortality rate analyses and the implications for the palliative care field. Visit the CAPC Web for more information and to register online.
APPEAL Training: A Progressive Palliative Care Educational Curriculum for the Care of African Americans at Life's End
February 12-13, 2010, Durham, N.C.
The Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life will train health care providers and others on caring for African American patients and families at the end of life. This training features the APPEAL curriculum (A Progressive Palliative Care Educational Curriculum for the Care of African Americans at Life's End) and stands apart from other nationally recognized palliative care curricula by offering technical palliative care expertise hand-in-hand with insights into caring for African Americans. Participants will leave this training with increased palliative care knowledge and skills as well as greater confidence and ability to communicate with African American patients and families.
More information about APPPEAL.
End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) 2010 Training Calendar
The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) project is a national education initiative to improve palliative care. The project provides undergraduate and graduate nursing faculty, CE providers, staff development educators, specialty nurses in pediatrics, oncology, critical care and geriatrics, and other nurses with training in palliative care so they can teach this essential information to nursing students and practicing nurses. Download the ELNEC fact sheet. Questions? Contact Pam Malloy at pmalloy@aacn.nche.edu.
Palliative Care Leadership Centers™ (PCLC) 2010 Trainings
To learn more, choose the PCLC that is right for you, and register, please visit the Center to Advance Palliative Care's PCLC Web. For general questions, please contact Jennifer Raiten at Jennifer.Raiten@mssm.edu or (212) 201-2683.
Palliative Care Leadership Centers™ (PCLC) is a national training and mentoring initiative supported by a consortium of funders, with direction and technical assistance provided by the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). PCLC offers training and mentoring to help start and expand hospital palliative care programs in the United States.
AAHPM and HPNA Annual Assembly
March 3-10, 2010, Boston, MA
Register online
Download the conference brochure
Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) 2010 Living with Grief Teleconference
Cancer and End-of-Life Care
March 24, 2010, 1:30-4:00 PM Eastern
The program will address care options related to cancer diagnoses as well as loss and grief reactions for patients, families and professional caregivers. The teleconference will also examine psychosocial aspects of cancer, pain management, and ethical issues related to the disease.
Spirituality: The Invisible Ingredient in Health and Healing
May 6-7, 2010, Vancouver, B.C.
Sponsored by Providence Health Care
The focus of the conference will be on Spirituality in the Workplace, Spirituality and Aging, Spirituality and Change, and Care for the Caregiver. Participants will include: physicians and other health care clinicians; health care executives and managers; researchers; government leaders; instructors especially in medicine, nursing and other health disciplines; community and social service practitioners; primary care and religious leaders; educators; patients and families. For information please contact Elizabeth Turtle at eturtle@providencehealth.bc.ca.
The Art of Presence, 5th Annual Healthcare Renewal Retreat
August 23-29, 2010, Assisi, Italy
Presented by GWish
Integrators of spirit, heart, mind and body, the retreat leaders draw from their medical, psychological, spiritual and artistic backgrounds to provide an extraordinary learning/healing environment for the renewal of health professionals and care providers of all faiths. Register online at gwish.org.
CAPC Campus Online
Consultation Etiquette
The single most effective way to increase referrals is to provide timely consultations that meet the needs of your referring clinicians, patients and families. Consultation etiquette refers to the rules, largely unwritten, that all consultants must know to be effective.This course will help you learn the common elements of consultation etiquette.
You will gain a clear understanding of:
- Key stakeholders for effective consultations
- Similarities and differences in palliative care consultations
- Rules of consultation etiquette
- Patient advocacy vs. respectful clinician
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Supportive Care
Coalition Members and Staff
Supportive Care Coalition Member Systems (main administrative offices)
|
| Ascension Health |
St. Louis, MO
|
| Bon Secours Health System
|
Marriottsville,
MD
|
| The Catholic Health Association of the
United States
|
St. Louis,
MO
|
| Catholic Health East |
Newtown Square, PA |
| Catholic Health Initiatives
|
Denver,
CO
|
| Catholic Healthcare Partners
|
Cincinnati,
OH
|
| CHRISTUS Health
|
Irving,
TX
|
| Covenant Health Systems
|
Lexington,
MA
|
| Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System
|
Baton Rouge,
LA
|
| OSF HealthCare
|
Peoria,
IL
|
| PeaceHealth
|
Bellevue,
WA
|
| Provena Health
|
Mokena,
IL
|
|
Providence
Health &
Services
|
Renton,
WA
|
|
Resurrection Health Care |
Chicago, IL
|
| Sisters of Charity Health System
|
Cleveland,
OH
|
| Sisters of Charity of
Leavenworth
Health System
|
Lenexa,
KS
|
| Sisters of Mercy Health System
|
Chesterfield,
MO
|
| SSM Health Care
|
St. Louis,
MO
|
|
St. Joseph
Health System
|
Orange,
CA
|
| Trinity Health
|
Novi,
MI
|
Contribute
to Supportive Care Coalition E-News
Items of interest to palliative care practitioners are welcome and may be
submitted to Carol River for
possible inclusion in this E-News publication.
Our
Mission
We are a coalition of Catholic health
ministries informed by our faith and values, which
through knowledge transfer, advocacy, and partnerships advances excellence in palliative care.
Our Vision
We envision a society in which all
persons living with or affected by a chronic or life threatening condition
receive compassionate, holistic, coordinated care. This will include relief of
pain, suffering and other symptoms from the time of diagnosis throughout the
process of living and dying. Such excellent care will be provided according
to need, respecting the values and goals of individuals, their families and
other loved ones. It will assist them to live fully in community and will
support survivors in their bereavement. Through such care, we believe that
God's healing love is revealed.
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