Living the Final ChapterCompassionate Care for Persons at the End of Life

Thursday, March 26, 2020 7:30 am - 4:00 pmEmbassy Suites Syracuse Destiny USA

311 Hiawatha Blvd W Syracuse, NY 13204

Who should attend?Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Social Workers, Nurse Practitioners,Physicians, Physician Assistants, Grief Counselors, Therapists, Health Aides, PastoralCare Providers, Long-Term Care Administrators, and anyone involved in providingend-of-life care.

We invite youto join otherprofessionalsfor a day oflearning

and sharingabout the

way we carefor those in

their final days.

NON-PROFITORGANIZATIONU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO.1755SYRACUSE, NY

Francis House108 Michaels AveSyracuse, NY 13208

Major Sponsor:

Continuing EducationThis activity has been submitted to Northeast Multi-State Division (NE-MSD) for approval to award contact hours.Northest Multistate Division (NE-MSD) is accredited as an approver of continuing nursing education by the AmericanNurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

SUNY Upstate Medical University is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) State Boardfor Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #0291.

Crouse Hospital is accredited by the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) to provide continuing medicaleducation for physicians.

Crouse Hospital designates this live activity for a maximum of 5.3 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physiciansshould claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Scholarships are available.Application online at www.francishouseny.org

Dr. Timothy Ihrig, MD practices palliative medicine, caring for the most vulnerable and sickest people,and helps other providers improve the quality and value of the care they provide to this population. Hiswork has shown how patient-centered care improves quality and length of life, and that it has significanteconomic benefits to patients, healthcare systems and the economy.

Dr. Ihrig is internationally recognized for combing clinical and administrative experience in creatinghealth and social care systems that reliably deliver high-value outcomes in a financially sustainablemanner for seriously-ill populations. He is endorsed by the Center for the Advancement of PalliativeCare as a national level clinician-educator, as well as the Minister of Health of Australia for his innova-

tiveapproach to caring for the most seriously ill. He is a palliative care content expert to the Accountable Care LearningCollaborative through Western Governors University in collaboration with Duke-Margolis Health Policy Institute and Dartmouth Institute of Health.

Dr. Ihrig’s featured TED talk has been viewed more than one million times globally, and National Public Radio’s “AllThings Considered” featured him in a story on the development and transformative nature of his philosophy of care. In addition, his efforts were seminal in UnityPoint Health being granted the 2013 Circle of Life Award by the American Hospital Association for exemplary end-of-life care.

Schedule

Morning Keynote Address: Timothy Ihrig, MDReconstructing a Humanity Within Medicine

Dr. Ihrig will share information on what we can do to die well. He will explain the benefits of a different approach, one that fosters patients’ overall quality of life and navigates serious illness from diagnosis to death, with dignity andcompassion. He will also examine the economic effects of poor or no planning on behalf of the healthcare system, healthcare consumer and employers.

7:30-8:00 Registration/Continental Breakfast

8:00-8:10 Welcome: Nancy Light, BS, RN, MPS, Executive Director, Francis House8:10-9:30 Keynote Address: Timothy Ihrig, MD, Reconstructing a Humanity Within Medicine

9:30-9:45 Break

9:45-10:45 Break Out Sessions:Servant Leadership, Nancy Light, BS, RN, MPSHelping Family Members at the Bedside, Pamela Roczen, LCSW(note: this session is repeated at 2:40)Anticipatory Grief, Maria DiTullio, Ed.D., LMHC(note: this session is repeated at 11:00)

10:45-11:00 Break

11:00-12:00 Break Out Sessions:Support Services for Family Members and Caregivers, Nancy Aureli, BS, RNAnticipatory Grief, Maria DiTullio, Ed.D., LMHCCultural Sensitivity, Religious Rituals at End of Life, Sr. Kathleen Osbelt, FacilitatorJoyce Bresnahan, Muhammed El Fiki, Rabbi Daniel Fellman, Jessie George

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-1:20 Music for Healing and Transitions, Sr. Eileen Derrick, BS, MA ,CMP

1:25-2:25 Keynote Address: Christopher Kerr, MD, Ph.D.Validation of Patients’ End-of-Life Dreams and Visions

2:25-2:40 Break

2:40-3:40 Break Out Sessions:Urban Zen and Holistic Integrative Therapies, Cathie Aber, MS, RN and Colleen Phinney, RN, BS, OCNHelping Family Members at the Bedside, Pamela Roczen, LCSWValue-Based Decision Making for Healthcare and End-of-Life Planning, Emilee Lawson Hatch, Esq., Kathy Faber-Langendoen, MD

3:40-4:00 Return Evaluations

Break Out: Anticipatory Grief

Break Out: Helping Family Members at the Bedside

Maria DiTullio, Ed.D., LMHCMaria DiTullio is a Professor Emerita of Psychology at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY. Dr. DiTullio’s teaching andclinical interests are focused on issues of grief and loss, death and dying, hospice care, and integrative and spiritualpsychology. She is in private practice with over 30 years of clinical experience.

Pamela Roczen, LCSWPamela Roczen is a social worker for Hospice of Central New York and of the Finger Lakes.

Accompanying a dying person, particularly a family member, is especially difficult in the final days. Tensionsmay run high and people are fatigued and overwhelmed with the impending death. Ms. Roczen will givestrategies and tools to assist family members at this time.

Healthcare providers are often faced with the phenomenon of anticipatory grief. Dr. DiTullio will focus ontools to recognize the signs of anticipatory and traumatic grief as well as approaches to assist those sufferingfrom this phenomenon to cope with feelings of fear and impending loss.

Break Out: Support Services for Family Members and CaregiversNancy Aureli, BS, RNNancy Aureli is a registered nurse caring for patients in the Transitional Care Unit at SUNY Upstate University Hospital.Nancy is the Founder of Community Living Advocates and has advocated for older adults and their families through theProxy Project of CNY.

This presentation will reveal some of the various agencies and services that are available to aid healthcareproviders and family members to facilitate quality care for individuals at end of life.

The role of a leader can be enhanced and strengthened by first identifying a call to service and thenimplementing that call through a relationship-building approach. This session will explore techniques toenhance leadership effectiveness through collaboration and building authentic community in the end-of-lifecare setting.

Nancy Light, BS, RN, MPSNancy Light is the Executive Director of Francis House. She is a registered professional nurse with over 40 years experience. She has been with Francis House since 1998. She serves on the professional Advisory Boards for NascentiaHealth and Hospice of CNY.

Break Out: Servant Leadership

Break Out: Cultural Sensitivity, Religious Rituals at End of LifeSr. Kathleen Osbelt, OSF, Panel Facilitator Sister Kathleen Osbelt is the founder of Francis House. Sister Kathleen has supported those who are dying for 31 years.She has served as a spiritual director for four years.

Panelists: Joyce Bresnahan, RN, Muhammed El Fiki, Rabbi Daniel Fellman, Jessie George

Our panel of religious leaders will share the rituals and customs that are a part of their tradition. They willillustrate ways caregivers and professionals can demonstrate cultural sensitivity.

Music for Healing and Transitions Sr. Eileen Derrick, OSF, BS, MA, CMPEileen is a CMP (certified music practitioner) with MHTP (Music for Healing and Transitions Program).

In this presentation Sister Eileen will define therapeutic music and its benefits. She will perform variouspieces on her harp targeted to specific patient conditions.

Dr. Kerr will share patients’ stories, illuminating how an end-of-life experience typically wrought with fear and sorrowcan be filled with tranquility and peace. He will share aspects from his new book that give an unflinching look at theend of life and celebrate our power to reclaim dying as a deeply meaningful and soothing process for both patients andtheir loved ones, and, more often than not, as spiritually healing.

well as insight into the life led and the death anticipated. To date, the research team at Hospice Buffalo has publishedmultiple studies on this topic and documented over 1,500 end-of-life events.

In his new book, Death is But a Dream, Dr. Kerr tells the story of these patients and their families to show that death isnot purely the end of life, but a final chapter of humanity and transcendence. Drawing on more than a decade of quantifieddata, Death is But a Dream reveals why pre-death dreams and visions are remarkable events that bring comfort and exemplify human resilience.

Dr. Kerr’s TEDx Buffalo Talk has been viewed over 2 million times, and has been the subject of reports on the BBC, TheNew York Times, Scientific American Mind, Huffington Post, Psychology Today and more.

Christopher Kerr is the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Executive Officer for The Center for Hospiceand Palliative Care in Buffalo, New York. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Dr. Kerr earned hisMD as well as a PhD in Neurobiology. Outside of direct patient care, Dr. Kerr’s focus is in the area ofpatient advocacy. His passion is palliative care and a belief that such care should be throughout thecontinuum of illness.

Dr. Kerr’s background in research has evolved from bench science towards the human experienceof illness as witnessed from the bedside, specifically patient’s dreams and visions at the end of life. Although medically ignored, these near universal experiences often provide comfort and meaning, as

Afternoon Keynote Address: Christopher Kerr, MD, Ph.D.Validation of Patients’ End-of-Life Dreams and Visions

Break Out: Value-Based Decision Making for Healthcare andEnd-of-Life Planning

Kathy Faber-Langendoen, MDKathy Faber-Langendoen is Founder and Chair of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at Upstate MedicalUniversity. She holds the Medical Alumni Endowed Professorship in Bioethics and is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology-Oncology.

Emilee Lawson Hatch, Esq.Emilee Lawson Hatch, Esq., is an elder law, trusts and estates attorney in Syracuse. As a previous author of the SyracuseLaw Review’s Trusts and Estates Survey of New York Law, Emilee stays on top of recent changes in the law that affect herclients, while maintaining a practical approach to addressing their legal issues.

Healthcare decision-making is often done in haste and under stress. Values examination and a deliberateplanning process can enable clinicians to assist patients and their loved ones with making informeddecisions about healthcare and end of life. In this session, we will explore the values conversation and typesof documents necessary to reflect a patient’s wishes.

Break Out: Urban Zen and Holistic Integrative TherapiesCathie Aber, MS, RNCathie Aber is a faculty member at the Pomeroy College of Nursing at Crouse Hospital. She is a certified health coach,Reiki master, and raindrop practitioner.

Colleen Phinney, RN, BS, OCNColleen Phinney is Director of Medical-Surgical Nursing at Crouse Hospital and a certified UZIT practitioner.

Presenters will discuss Urban Zen Integrative Therapy (UZIT) and other adjunct therapies for relief of pain,anxiety, nausea, constipation, and the layered approach for symptom management. Examples include chairor in-bed yoga, Reiki, mindful movement, essential oils, breath and body awareness.