More than 1,000 hospice and palliative professionals and industry experts gathered in Kansas city last week to explore best practices for hospice and palliative care provision in the United States.
Conference highlights included a plenary presentation by Mark Nepo, a poet and philosopher, who spoke to delegates about: The healer’s call and self-care, Dr Nicholas Christakis, physician, researcher and social scientist who presented a plenary on the power of social networks.
The two afternoon plenaries were presented by Dr Joan Harrold and Dr Brian Carter and were entitled: ‘When the Patient is Clearly Terminal, but the Diagnosis Isn’t’, and ‘Evidence-based Neonatal-Perinatal Palliative Care’ respectively.
According to the NHPCO: “The conference explored the care continuum, interdisciplinary, team, medical, clinical, psychosocial, spiritual, bereavement and team innovation and excellence – in all their myriad facets, ideas, forms and outcomes.”
The Volunteers are the Foundation of Hospice Awards were presented at the conference to recognise hospice volunteers who best reflect the universal concept of volunteerism in its truest sense—serving as an inspiration to others.
This year’s recipients and the area for which they were honoured were:
- Cecil Bartlett, a volunteer with Casa de la Luz Hospice in Oro Valley, Arizona, for patient and family support
- Opal Phillips, a volunteer with Hospice of the Bluegrass in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, for organizational support, and
- Christina A. Solazzo, a volunteer with Suncoast Hospice in Clearwater, Florida, for outstanding teen service.
Dr Vincent Mor, professor of Medical Science, Heath Services, Policy & Practice at Brown University, was awarded the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s 2013 Distinguished Researcher Award.
The conference was presented by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) in cooperation with the Missouri Hospice & Palliative Care Association.
Read more about the conference on the NHPCO website.
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