Each year the Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) presents a nationally recognized distance learning program to more than 125,000 people in 2,000 communities. For more than a decade, this annual educational event has been instrumental in educating healthcare professionals and families on issues affecting end-of-life care. The information provided by the expert panel will be useful to clinicians, administrators, chaplains, social workers, nurses, case managers, counselors, physicians, addiction professionals, and other staff working in hospice and palliative care, hospitals, long-term care and assisted living facilities.

This year’s Living With Grief® Program focuses on “Improving Care for Veterans Facing Illness and Death.” This program assists end-of-life care provider organizations and health and human service professionals in enhancing their sensitivities and understanding of veterans and to provide professionals with new interventions to better serve dying veterans and their families.  Attention is placed on veteran generations now aging and most likely to be seen in end-of-life care (WWII, Korean War, Vietnam). The program also looks organizationally at military benefits and intersections with VA systems and will explore the traditions and sensitivities of grieving families and resources that can assist them.

Moderated by Frank Sesno, Director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University, the program will be shown at Texas Health WNJ, 500 N. Highland in Sherman from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Mr. Sesno will lead the panel of noted authorities that includes: Scott T. Shreve, DO, National Director, Hospice of Palliative Care, Dept. of Veterans Affairs; Deborah Grassman, ARNP, Author, Lecturer, Consultant, Dept. of Veterans Affairs; Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, MDiv, Professor of Gerontology, The College of New Rochelle, and Senior Consultant, Hospice Foundation of America; Paul Tschudi, MA, EdS, LPC, Assistant Professor/Director, The George Washington University, and Vietnam veteran; and Ryan Weller, MSW, LCSW, Palliative Care Program Manager, Portland VA Medical Center.
 
“I don’t think it’s something that we can ignore; our Veteran population is aging rapidly and I think we owe it to them to serve them well at the end-of-life because we may have failed them in the past,” said Jolene Senek, Home Hospice Bereavement Coordinator.  “This presentation will allow us to peer into a window of what could benefit a Veteran at the end of their life.”

Each year this award-winning, program is produced by Hospice Foundation of America, a not-for-profit organization, which acts as an advocate for the hospice concept of care through ongoing programs of professional education, public information and research on issues relating to illness, loss, grief and bereavement.

Continuing Education credits are available for a wide range of professions. To learn more about this program visit the Hospice Foundation of America website at www.hospicefoundation.org, the Home Hospice website www.homehospice.org, or call Home Hospice at 903-868-9315. 

 Home Hospice is a non-profit organization, founded in 1982, dedicated to providing physical, emotional, and spiritual care at the end-of-life for patients, their families, and caregivers regardless of ability to pay, as well as to offer comfort to all in the community who are grieving.  Just because days are limited, quality of life shouldn’t be.