SFEOL

San Francisco Bay Area Network for End-of-Life Care

Past Topics

SFEOL logo

This summary of SFEOL Past Events (2008 to February 2022) is based on listings on our previous web site. Recordings of these meetings are not available.

February 2, 2022

SFMMS Panel on Palliative Care Topics

Steve Heilig of the SFMMS with Monique Schaulis, MD, et al.

For our February 2 meeting, we will be joined by Monique Schaulis, MD, who practices palliative and emergency care at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco and is the immediate part-president of the San Francisco Marin Medical Society.  Dr. Schaulis received her MD from the University of Chicago, a BA from Wesleyan University where she majored in Latin American Studies, and a Master’s in Public Health from UC Berkeley. She serves as faculty for Vital Talk, a non-profit dedicated to improving physician/patient communication, and was on the board of the National Clinicians Conference on Medical Aid in Dying.

She will be joined in discussion by SFEOL co-founder Steve Heilig of the SFMMS, where they recently produced a journal theme issue on palliative care featuring many local leading lights in that arena. Authors from the journal will be invited to join in as well in what should be a wide-ranging informal dialogue.  We hope you can be with us!

SAN FRANCISCO MARIN MEDICINE

Palliative Care Advances and Reflections

https://www.sfmms.org/news-events/san-francisco-marin-medicine/current-issue.aspx

January 5, 2022

Friendly Check‑in

One year ago, for the first meeting of the year, we simply hosted a friendly check-in, without a formal agenda, for anybody who wished to join in and share a bit of fellowship with others.  We will do so again this Wednesday (hopefully without the now-infamous Capital insurrection that took place as we were meeting then!)

December 01, 2021

Celebration Of Life

Isabel Stenzel, LCSW, MPH

November 03, 2021

TWO GODS Film Screening

October 06, 2021

Reimagining A Pediatric Palliative And Hospice Care Coalition For California

Dr. Christy Torkildson

Christy is the acting lead for the Steering Committee working towards a sustainable Pediatric Palliative and Hospice Care Coalition for California. She was the founding program director for George Mark Children’s House and has worked in the palliative and hospice world for over two decades. She is the Chair and co-editor of the Pediatric e-Journal, the longest consistent publication focused on pediatric palliative and hospice care in the US and supported by NHPCO. Christy is an RN and earned her PhD from UCSF with and emphasis on family nursing and health policy.

Christy’s presentation is entitled, “Reimagining a Pediatric Palliative and Hospice Care Coalition for California.”

September 01, 2021

The Psychedelic Medicine Resurgence

Dr. Dave Smith, MD

July 07, 2021

“Caregiver: A Love Story” Screening

Dr. Jessica Zitter

June 02, 2021

Present Through The End

Kirsten DeLeo

May 05, 2021

Condolences Pocket Guide: What To Say And Not To Say To Grievers

Dana Lacy Amaris

April 07, 2021

The Many Faces Of Love

Dr. Dale Borglum

March 03, 2021

Beyond The Boundaries, An Artist’s Rendition

Dr. Beverly Ayling-Smith

February 03, 2021

California’s Final Master Plan For Aging Unveiled Palliative Care And Advance Care Planning Included In Initiatives

Judy Thomas, JD, CEO, California Coalition for Compassionate Care

January 06, 2021

SFEOL New Year’s chat!

Strategic Planning with Nate, Steve, and Sandy

December 04, 2020

This Vulnerable Human Life

Frank Ostaseski

November 04, 2020

A Post-Election Meditation To Soothe The Soul

Rob Rosborough, Esq.

October 07, 2020

Multiculturality And Palliative Care Education: What We Have Learned About Community Education Around The World Through The Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation

Rodrigo Luz

September 02, 2020

Changes In Worlds: The Hidden History Of Dying In The West.

Nate Hinerman, PhD, MFT

August 05, 2020

Vulnerable Populations, And How COVID Is Impacting These Communities

Marvin Mutch

July 01, 2020

End Of Life Choices California

Lynne Calkins and Fran Johns

This month we welcome End of Life Choices California (EOLCC), a volunteer-based non-profit committed to thoroughly explaining all the different options for dying well and how to achieve them; including stopping life-preserving  medical treatments, seeking palliative care, entering hospice, voluntary stopping eating and drinking with the support of hospice, palliative sedation, and medical aid in dying. This presentation will offer practical tips, and other helpful ideas for our patients and loved ones as they navigate the various options available to Californians pertaining to the processes of dying, from beginning to end. Their website is here: endoflifechoicesca.org

Lynne Calkins, Founding Director of EOLCC, will be joined by our very own Fran Johns, author, EOLCC volunteer, and co-founder of our own SFEOL group, to lead the presentation and the subsequent discussion and Q/A. Please join us, and feel free to have lunch during the presentation! We’ll do our usual check-in, and then speakers will take the “stage” at 12:15.

June 03, 2020

Grief And Anxiety In The Time Of COVID19 (Via Zoom, Details Included)

Isabel Stenzel, LCSW

April 01, 2020

No Meeting Due To The Virus, April 1

March 04, 2020

Professional Identity And Interprofessional Tension On The Palliative Care Team

DorAnne Donesky, PhD, ANP-BC, ACHPN

February 05, 2020

Beyond Compassion Burnout

Dale Borglum, PhD

December 04, 2019

“Permission To Grieve”

Dawn Gross, MD, PhD

November 06, 2019

Present Through The End. A Caring Companion’s Guide To Accompanying The Dying

Kirsten DeLeo

October 02, 2019

Family Caregiving 101 – Understanding The Needs Of Family Caregivers And Resources To Support Them

Christina Irving, LCSW

September 04, 2019

Balanced Resilience For Care Partners Living With Parkinson’s Disease

Judy Long, Interfaith Chaplain

August 07, 2019

Medical Aid In Dying: Ethically Challenging Cases (And A Pharmacology Update!)

Lonny Shavelson, M.D.

July 03, 2019

There Is No SFEOL Meeting In July, Due To The Holiday!

June 05, 2019

Josie’s Place For Bereaved Youth And Families

Patricia Murphy

May 01, 2019

King Lear, Live!

Courtney Walsh and We Players’ Artistic Director, Ava Roy

April 03, 2019

A Meditation On What Matters

Dale Borglum, PhD

February 06, 2019

A Dance With Death: The Final Days Of Kelly Johnson

Fran Moreland Johns

January 02, 2019

No meeting

November 07, 2018

Go Wish Workshop!

Dr. Dawn Gross, Nancy Belza, and Paul Puccinelli, LMFT

August 01, 2018

Mindful Caregiver Education For Family Caregivers

Roy Remer, Zen Hospice Project

June 06, 2018

End Game Documentary

Please join us as we screen one of the hottest new documentary films, End Game (https://www.netflix.com/title/80210691). Facing inevitable outcomes, terminally ill patients meet extraordinary medical practitioners seeking to change our approach to life and death. This is their story. In addition, we will be circulating and using the End Game toolkit, which can be found here (http://coalitionccc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/END-GAME-Toolkit.pdf). Come and join us, as we watch, and then digest, this film together, using the toolkit! This session will enable and empower you to show the film and use the toolkit in your places of work and worship as well!

I am happy to get you lunch as well. Just let me know? Box lunches are 15.00, and are obtained from http://picnixsf.com/.

May 02, 2018

Mike Hill’s latest documentary film, Hippocratic

Please join us as we screen Producer and Director Mike Hill’s latest documentary film, Hippocratic (http://hippocraticfilm.com/). This is an amazing story about the essence of palliative care, and how Dr. MR Rajagopal helped to forge its presence throughout his native India. This really is a wonderful film: smart, compelling, and inspiring. To me, this ranks among the best cinematic portraits of the aims of palliative care, and what it takes to achieve them. I know many of you attended the UCSF presentation with Dr. Raj last month– here’s a chance to see the film! (Unfortunately, Mike and Dr. Raj will not be joining us, but they expressed they’ll be with us in spirit)

April 04, 2018

The Heart Of The Matter – Conscious Living, Conscious Dying

Dale Borglum, PhD

March 07, 2018

If Your Mind Does Fade Someday, Your Plan Better Be Adequate And Effective

Stanley A. Terman, PhD, M.D.

February 07, 2018

Applying the Basic Chaplaincy Principle of “Ministry of Caring Presence” to Clinical Care

Rev. Robert Drake

December 06, 2017

Compassionate Communities: Making Dying And Death EVERYONE’s Business!

Dr. Kathy Kortes-Miller

November 01, 2017

Dying To Make A Difference

Mary Matthiesen

October 04, 2017

Film Screening: Voices Of Grief

Kathy Sparnins Executive Director and Co-Producer, Voices of Grief

September 06, 2017

Let’s Play A Game!

Dr. Dawn Gross, MD, PhD

August 02, 2017

A Poetry Cafe!

Redwing Keyssar, RN

June 07, 2017

The Power Of Two

Isabel Yuriko Stenzel Byrnes, LCSW, MPH. This was a further discussion about her life story. The first of these conversations took place on February 1, 2017.

May 03, 2017

Five Invitations

Frank Ostaseski

April 05, 2017

Symbol-Making And Bereavement

Dr. Kim Bateman, Dean, Psychologist

March 01, 2017

Hosting Death Cafes

Susan Barber

February 07, 2017

Applying the Basic Chaplaincy Principle of “Ministry of Caring Presence” to Clinical Care

Rev. Robert Drake.

February 01, 2017

The Art Of Saying Goodbye

Isabel Yuriko Stenzel Byrnes, LCSW, MPH. A further conversation about her life story took place on June 7, 2017.

January 04, 2017

Now Care Planning– Peaceful And Timely Transitions For Patients Who Lack Effective Living Wills

Dr. Stanley Terman, PhD, MD

December 07, 2016

Being In The World

Dale Borglum, PhD

November 02, 2016

Caregiver Resilience And Well-Being: Sustainable Caregiving, Part 2

Judy Long

October 05, 2016

Delving Into Dignity

Dr. Chloe Martin

September 07, 2016

Caregiver Resilience And Well-Being: Sustainable Caregiving

Judy Long

August 03, 2016

The California End Of Life Option Act. What Now, And How To?

Dr. Lonny Shavelson

June 01, 2016

Contemplative End-Of-Life Care: Awake At The Bedside

Kirsten DeLeo

May 04, 2016

Private Film Screening: A Flight From Death: The Quest for Immortality

April 06, 2016

Support Meeting

Jerrigrace Lyons, and Monica S. Flores

March 09, 2016

How Much Suffering Can We Bear Witness To In Our Work?

Kirsten DeLeo

March 02, 2016

Roy Remer Presenting

Roy Remer, Zen Hospice Project

February 03, 2016

Hippocratic Hypocrisy Meets End-Of-Life Reality In California: How Physician-Assisted Dying Came To Legal: A Personal And Professional Reflection

Steve Heilig, MPH

Steve is a healthcare ethicist, editor, epidemiologist, environmentalist, and ethnomusicologist based in San Francisco. Steve was trained in public health, economics, and biology at five UC campuses, and he has worked with many nonprofit organizations and hospitals and in biotechnology, and has authored over 500 articles on a wide range of topics, as well as over 100 diverse book reviews for the San Francisco Chronicle. With particular interest in reproductive health and rights, death and dying, environmental science and policy, and addiction medicine, he has lectured at the University of California, Stanford, and Harvard, is co-editor of the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, San Francisco Medicine, and the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, and is currently formally affiliated with the San Francisco Medical Society, California Pacific Medical Center, and Commonweal. He has drafted dozens of health policies for the California Medical Association and AMA. He has served on numerous hospital clinical ethics committees, is a trained hospice volunteer and former director of Zen Hospice Project, and served on the boards of The Shanti Project, Planned Parenthood, and other service organizations. He is also a widely-published music journalist and author of fiction, poetry, and literary criticism. He was a founder of the SFEOL.

Note: there will NOT be a hosted lunch at this event.

January 04, 2016

Now Care Planning– Peaceful And Timely Transitions For Patients Who Lack Effective Living Wills

Dr. Stanley Terman, PhD, MD

December 02, 2015

When Death Comes Early: Pediatric End Of Life Care

Dr. Nancy Iverson

October 07, 2015

Good Grief Workshop

Ann Randolph

August 06, 2015

The Consequences Of Working With People Who Suffer: Recognizing Compassion Fatigue And Burnout

Dr. Patrick Arbore

July 05, 2015

Josie’s Place: A Model For Grieving Children

Pat Murphy

June 03, 2015

Truth-Telling In Medicine

Dawn Gross, MD PhD

May 06, 2015

Last Acts Of Kindness, Revisited

Redwing Keyssar

April 11, 2015

Prison Terminal: The Last Days Of Private Jack Hall

Edgar Barens

March 04, 2015

Compassion And Attunement With Suffering

Frank Ostaseski

February 04, 2015

Talk, Discussion, and Book Signing

Katy Butler, Author, “Knocking on Heaven’s Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death”

January 07, 2015

Spiritual Support For The Dying

Dale Borglum

November 05, 2014

Celebrating Human Greatness

Facilitated by John O’Grady, Esq.

October 01, 2014

The Grace In Dying: How We Are Transformed Spiritually As We Die

Kathleen Dowling Singh

September 03, 2014

The Palliative Care Quality Network – PCQN

Steven Pantilat, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco

May 04, 2014

A Doctors Take On Death

Dr. Margaret “Molly” Bourne, Hospice by the Bay Medical Director

April 02, 2014

Pallium India USA

Sunshine Mugrabi, Hetal Sheth

March 05, 2014

What Are Home Funerals And Natural Death Care And Green Burials

Jerrigrace Lyons, Founder, Final Passages

February 05, 2014

Compassion As Antidote To Burnout

Dale Borglum, PhD

December 04, 2013

Advance Care Planning Workshop

Lael Duncan, MD

November 06, 2013

Listening To Lizabeth

Sandy Fish

October 02, 2013

A Tale Of Two Tribes

Dr. Jeff Kane, MD

September 04, 2013

Singing To Heal Yourself And The World

Kate Munger

May 01, 2013

Finding Hope After Loss

Dr. Gloria Horsley MFC CNS Ph.D

April 03, 2013

The State Of Community-Based Palliative Care Models

Judith Redwing Keyssar, RN, BA, Director of the Palliative Care Program at Seniors at Home

March 06, 2013

A New Method To Make Difficult Decisions: Obtain A Consensus Of Substituted Judgment

Stanley A. Terman, Ph.D., M.D., Psychiatrist and CEO of Caring Advocates, Carlsbad, CA

February 06, 2013

Navigate Aging & Inheritance Battles To Save Relationships

John E. O’Grady, JD

November 07, 2012

The Heart Of Listening

Meg O’Shaughnessy

October 03, 2012

Elder Abuse: What Is It

Shirley Krohn, Senior Assembly Member for California Senior Legislature

August 01, 2012

Enhancing The End Of Life For Patients And Families With Dignity Therapy

Brenda Bentley, MA, PhD Candidate

June 06, 2012

Considering The Results Of “The Final Chapter: Californians’ Attitudes And Experiences With Death And Dying”

Steve Heilig, MPH and Nate Hinerman, PhD

May 02, 2012

The Death Experience

Dr. Russ Granich, Chief of Palliative Care and Community Based Medicine, Kaiser Permanente

March 07, 2012

Cultural Competency In End Of Life Care

Maria Moreno, MPH, Health Services Researcher, Sutter Health Institute

February 01, 2012

Given The Great Need, How Can We Motivate People?

Dr. Stanley Terman

December 07, 2011

Cultivating Reflective Habits Of Care

Nate Hinerman, PhD, University of San Francisco

November 02, 2011

End-Of-Life Issues in The Islamic Tradition (Part 2)

Ameena Jandali, Content Director, Islamic Networks Group (http://www.ing.org/)

Part 1 of this program was offered on October 05, 2011

October 05, 2011

End-Of-Life Issues in The Islamic Tradition (Part 1)

Ameena Jandali, Content Director, Islamic Networks Group (http://www.ing.org/)

Part 2 of this program was offered on November 02, 2011

September 07, 2011

The Role And Mission Of Pallium India

Presenters: Hetal Sheth and Sunshine Mugrabi

June 01, 2011

POLST Panel Discussion, Followed By Q/A

Catherine McGregor, RN, MSN Coalition for Compassionate Care of California; Mark Apfel, MD, Medical Director Anderson Valley Health Center; Jeff Newman, MD, Sutter Health Institute for Research and Education

Our June networking meeting will feature a lively, interactive discussion concerning POLST, including how to identify the target populations most suitable for POLST, and how to skillfully and sensitively facilitate a POLST conversation with a client/surrogate. Catherine McGregor, RN, MSN Coalition for Compassionate Care of California, Mark Apfel, MD, Medical Director Anderson Valley Health Center and Jeff Newman, MD, Sutter Health Institute for Research and Education will offer ideas and answer questions, as well as guide an active learning exercise.

May 04, 2011

Life Changing Decisions: From Donation To Transplantation

Lori Coleman, RN, CPTC, and Manager of the Heart, Lung and Liver Transplant Unit at California Pacific Medical Center

Lori’s talk will include a detailed discussion of all the major aspects of the transplant programs she oversees. Lori will also describe the transplant and donation systems, and how they operate, including the role of end of life care and education amidst these processes. Lori’s long history and accomplished expertise in the field promises to foster a rich dialog, so please bring your interests, your questions, and RSVP.

April 11, 2011

The “Good” Death

Guy Micco, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Berkeley

We are very lucky this month to welcome back Guy Micco, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Berkeley. Guy also serves as the Director of the UCB Resource Center on Aging and as Co-Director of the UC Berkeley Program for the Medical Humanities. His presentation is provocatively entitled, “The ‘Good’ Death,” and he will explore with us contemporary attitudes and their impact on how we care for a person at the end of their life. What happens at the end of life? Do we care about an individual’s experience beyond our concern to alleviate ‘suffering’? What do we do with attitudes that suggest the ‘old,’ having lived a long life already, now have less to live for? These questions frame Guy’s literarily inspired presentation, where he will draw from two classics, “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” and “Alcestis”.

March 02, 2011

Death Makes Life Possible

Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, PhD, President for Research and Education at the Institute of Noetic Sciences and Kathleen Erickson-Freeman, Facilitator

February 02, 2011

Debut Of My Way Cards

Dr. Stanley Terman

Dr. Stanley Terman, founder, CEO and medical director of Caring Advocates, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that helps people plan and carry out their end-of-life wishes. Dr. Terman created and has recently updated a new tool for Advance Care Planning, My Way Cards, to create a Natural Dying—Living Will (Natural Dying—Advance Decision). Two primary goals of sorting My Way Cards include: 1) to inform people what it is like to live with Advanced Dementia (and other terminal illnesses) using plain, straightforward descriptions that have almost no medical jargon or medical diagnoses, supplemented with illustrative line drawings to enhance understanding; and 2) to create a legal document that will be an effective Advance Directive.  In his presentation, Dr. Terman will elaborate how through the process of sorting the cards, Advance Care Planners can make decisions about over 48 different items relevant for end-of-life care. Each item represents a symptom, loss of function, unwanted behavior, or conflict with lifelong values. The process of sorting the cards results in informing future decision-makers how the Advance Care Planner feels about each item. The overarching goal of Dr. Terman’s research is to avoid future conflicts so that people can avoid a prolonged, burdensome process of dying such as lingering for years in Advanced Dementia with unrecognized and untreated pain and suffering.

More information about Dr. Terman’s new My Way Cards is at http://www.MyWayCards.org, http://www.PlanNowDieLater.org, and http://www.CaringAdvocates.org/presentations.php.

January 12, 2011

Last Acts Of Kindness

J. Redwing Keyssar, RN, BA

November 10, 2010

In The Heart Of The Deathless

Ivana Steigman, MD, PhD

October 13, 2010

Joy Of Caring Project: Mindfulness-Based Dementia Care

Marguerite Manteau-Rao, LCSW

We are very lucky to welcome Marguerite Manteau-Rao, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and Registered Art Therapist, who has a mindfulness-based psychotherapy private practice in Menlo Park. Marguerite serves adults & families facing the psychological difficulties associated with chronic pain, illness, aging, and end-of-life. Marguerite is also a MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) instructor, and maintains an ongoing Vipassana meditation practice. She writes about her mindfulness practice, as well as end-of-life and dementia care, both for the Huffington Post and her blog, Mind Deep.

Marguerite’s presentation is entitled, “Joy of Caring Project: Mindfulness-Based Dementia Care.” This presentation was inspired by her experience with her mother who suffers from Alzheimer’s, and her work with clients and Zen Hospice residents. Her presentation suggests that traditional support, including education and behavior modification have not been very effective at reducing caregiver distress. Such approaches often fail to address:  1) caregivers’ difficulties in disengaging from habitual ways of responding to challenging behaviors; and 2) how to manage internal resources of stress over the long run.

Marguerite’s Joy of Caring approach combines the Zen Hospice model of mindful care community, with the Mindfulness-Based Elder Care (MBEC) model, and a mindfulness-based view of dementia. Using this lens, elements of dementia that are traditionally experienced as liabilities in the care relationship can be transformed into unique opportunities for personal growth and mindfulness practice. This presentation will discuss ways to achieve such transformation.

September 08, 2010

Compassion Fatigue: Tricky Symptoms & The Return To Balance

Rev. Jennifer Block, Education Director & Chaplain at Zen Hospice Project

August 05, 2010

The Good News About Alzheimers: How Mindfulness Can Heal Patients And The Ones Who Care For Them

A recent article from Marguerite Manteau-Rao, LCSW, ATR, MBA can be found at:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-good-news-about-alzhe_b_689844

July 02, 2010

We Are On The Move To End Alzheimers At Vintage Golden Gate!

We Are On the Move To End Alzheimer’s at Vintage Golden Gate!

A recent article from Marguerite Manteau-Rao, LCSW, ATR, MBA can be found here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marguerite-manteaurao/the-good-news-about-…

June 09, 2010

Why Sort Illustrated My Way Cards? To Create Effective Living Wills For Advanced Dementia

Stanley A. Terman, PhD, MD, Caring Advocates, Carlsbad, CA

May 19, 2010

American Society On Aging Presents: Legacy: Emerging Professionals Serving Older Adults.

Michelle Dowds and Emily Schmidt.

Legacy is the next generation of professionals committed to serving and promoting a positive view of older adults. It is a forum for emerging professionals to network with peers, raise awareness about the needs of the aging community, and participate in professional development through educational presentations and community service.

Legacy was founded by Michelle Dowds, Community Outreach Coordinator, Seniors At Home, a division of JFCS, and Emily Schmidt, Community Relations, Providence Place—Dementia Care Assisted Living.

May 12, 2010

Degriefing: Transforming Grief

Lyn Prashant, MA, FT, CMT

April 14, 2010

Preparing For Death Now: How Alive Are You Willing To Be?

Dale Borglum, PhD – Founder and Executive Director of The Living/Dying Project

March 03, 2010

Topic: A Community-Based Approach To Improving Palliative Care

Jeffrey Newman, MD, MPH

February 03, 2010

A Burden Of Means: Recent Debates In Catholic Health Care Ethics At The End-Of-Life

Nate Hinerman, PhD

January 06, 2010

Physician Order For Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) Community Training

Nate Hinerman, PhD, and Connie Borden, RN, MSN, ANP

POLST Training, including how to integrate POLST with other advance planning documents, and how to use POLST as a tool to facilitate conversations about wishes and values for the end of life.

November 05, 2009

When Blossoms Fall: Buddhist Practices At The End Of Life

Tova Green, LCSW

October 07, 2009

Green Options & Innovations In Funerary Care

Kathy Curry, Forever Fernwood Funeral Home

September 02, 2009

POLST Implementation In California

Erin Henke POLST Program Manager, California Coalition for Compassionate Care

July 05, 2009

Inspired Or Tired? Making Sense Of What We Do

Jennifer Block Director of Public Education, Zen Hospice Project

Serving and caring for people at the end of life means being fully present to both the pain and joy of human existence. We who are involved in end-of-life care & advocacy, after-death care, and bereavement care, can become weighed down by the constancy of sickness, death, and grief in our work lives, or we can become celebrants of life and champions for healing. Jennifer will lead us in examining our beliefs and attitudes about life and death so that we can be effective — and happy — caregivers and advocates in the increasingly important and precarious arena of end-of-life care. If you have ever wondered about the meaning of your work, and how it relates to the bigger picture, this presentation is for you. And if not, come find out how to best support your colleagues who seem to be losing sight of it all.

Since 2004, Jennifer Block has served as the director of Public Education for the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco , California , creating curriculum, teaching workshops, offering spiritual care, and providing community outreach. In her current role, Jennifer shares the mission and learning of Zen Hospice Project nationally through the many curriculum she has created from her years of hospice and chaplaincy service. Jennifer also provides training and spiritual care to volunteers, clinicians, and caregivers, as well as friends and families facing the spiritual and emotional issues related to end-of-life care.

June 03, 2009

Unraveling The Relationship Between Health Care Literacy

Rebecca Sudore, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

May 06, 2009

Watching Them Let Go: The Residential Pediatric Hospice Experience

Diane Malek, MSW, LCSW, Psychosocial Manager, George Mark Children’s House.

In her presentation and slide show Diane will describe what it’s like to watch parents watch their children drift off to death.

Diane’s role at George Mark includes helping parents move from absolute resolve to having their child survive to seeing them take on tasks, skill sets, and a knowledge base of medical information they never wanted to have.

Diane also will discuss the current day to day activities at the House, and what it is like to have a growing number of bereaved families they are working with over time.

For a nice profile of Diane’s previous professional work and a sample of her photography, see the following San Francisco Chronicle article at:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/07/14/LV18879.DTL

February 04, 2009

From Crisis To Empowerment: Necessary Actions From Diagnosis To Dying, Death, And Grief

Beatrice Toney Bailey, lecturer and author of book, “Farewell My Friend”

January 07, 2009

The “Right To Know” End Of Life Options Act

Stephen Jamison, Ph.D. (California Director, Compassion & Choices)

November 05, 2008

Addressing Cultural Diversity At The End Of Life

Pat Forman, MPH, MATP (Consultant and Coach)

October 01, 2008

Addressing Religious Diversity At The End Of Life

Evan Ardley, PhD, D.Min. (Spiritual Services Manager, Hospice By The Bay)

Update: Paid Family Leave Act

Lilian Miwa Maher (Paid Family Leave Act Outreach Coordinator)

September 30, 2008

National Prize Recognizes Excellence In End-Of-Life Care

The Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award. Nominations due September 30th. Please see this link for more info:   http://www.thehastingscenter.org/PhysicianAwards/

September 03, 2008

A Presentation On Compassion Fatigue

Rev. Jennifer Block, MA (Public Education Director, Zen Hospice Project)

August 06, 2008

Organizing One’s Affairs At The End Of Life

Cari Hays, MSPM, (Executor Consulting Services) and Maggie Watson (author, A Graceful Farewell)

July 02, 2008

Proposed Changes To Laguna Honda’s Hospice Unit

Derek Kerr, MD

June 19, 2008

National Geriatrics And Palliative Care Symposium

Sponsored by Kaiser Permanente

This conference brings together health care providers who are caring for the elderly and for patients with advanced illness across all venues of care to improve communication with patients, their caregivers and families.

June 04, 2008

For Profit Versus Nonprofit Models Of Palliative Care And End-Of-Life Care

Catherine Dodd

May 30, 2008

California Coalition For Compassionate Care Workgroups & Membership Meeting

Contact Nate Hinerman for more details

May 15, 2008

Partners In Caring: A Seminar For Faith Leaders On End-Of-Life Care

Sponsored by Sacramento Healthcare Decisions & Compassionate Care Alliance

This one-day program taught by physicians enhances the skills of faith leaders in supporting congregants at life’s end. Appropriate for community clergy, rabbis and priests, health ministers, congregational nurses, staff and volunteer chaplains.

May 07, 2008

This Conference Brings Together Health Care Providers Who Are Caring For The Elderly And For Patients With Advanced Illness Across All Venues Of Care To Improve Communication With Patients

Various Speakers.

Patrice Villars, Associate Director, Hospice and Palliative Care Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Connie Borden, Palliative Care Coordinator at St. Mary’s Medical Center

Kathy Doctor, Clinical Team Manager for Pathways Palliative Home Care and IV Programs

Sandee Wishon, Clinical Outreach Director at Hospice By The Bay (Palliative Care and Pediatric Programs)

April 17, 2008

National Health Care Decisions Day/Hospice Foundation Of America National Teleconference

Co-Hosted by Hospice by the Bay & Pathways Hospice

Living with Grief Videoconference – Children and Adolescents

April 02, 2008

Music Thanatology

Kate Munger

March 27, 2008

Conference – Compassion In Action: Shaping The Future Of End-Of-Life Care

Santa Clara University, Center for Performing Arts Santa Clara, CA

March 05, 2008

The Similarities And Tensions Among The Definition And Delivery Of Palliative Care Hospice Care And End-Of-Life Care

Anne Hughes, RN, PhD, Adv Practice Nurse in Palliative Care, Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehab Center

February 06, 2008

Updates From The California Coalition For Compassionate Care

Judy Citko, JD, Exec Dir California Coalition for Compassionate Care

Conference Planning Meeting