Remember to save the date for the 2014 SWHPN General Assembly in San Diego, on March 10-12. The responses from the evaluation of the New Orlean’s  2013 General Assembly (about 50% of participants completed the evaluation, a great response our experts say) were overwhelmingly positive.  Of course there were also suggestions for improvement that we are incorporating in the plans for next year.

Participant evaluations from the 2013 SWHPN General Assembly demonstrate the success of the conference:

• 68% of participants received financial support from their institutions to attend the conference
• 23% of participants also attended the AAHPM/HPNA Annual Assemblies later that week
• 95.5% would recommend this conference to others
• 100% were satisfied with the overall value of the conference
• 98% were satisfied with the printed conference program
• 99% were satisfied with the general organization and flow of the conference
• 98% were pleased with the amount and quality of information presented
• 99% felt the content of the conference was relevant to their work
• 80% of participants in the SWHPN Mentorship Program said their mentoring match met their needs and interests
• 91% of mentors and mentees plan to stay connected, and 55% have had contact since the conference.

Plenaries were highly evaluated as was the overall variety and quality of breakouts.

Some representative comments about what participants liked most about the General Assembly included the following:

The information presented was very motivational…the memory stick 
provided with all information/ presentations from the conference was a huge bonus! We will be able to share the information with members of our staff for years to come.

Being with other people who do what I do!!! Like many of us in this field, I am the only social worker on my team.

Hearing how other hospitals/programs/social workers dealt with similar barriers. I also appreciated the “theme” of empowering social workers to become leaders. 
Many organizational structures are not set up for the advancement of social
 workers, and since we are a “grass roots” profession, we don’t typically carve our own path.

Enhancing my role by learning from others!

Being with others who do the same work and learning how they do their jobs.

Having hospice and palliative care social workers all together focused on our specific work. I think it is a great leap forward and much needed

Networking, and opportunity to hear what others have implemented

This was the first conference where I had sessions related to my position as a Palliative Care Social Worker on an in pt 
palliative care consult team in a tertiary/acute hospital. I was able to return from 
this conference and share information that related to the type of care our team provides.

Finally a chance to meet nationally with colleagues in H&PC!

250 social workers in hospice and palliative care together! lots of power. At times I feel alone on my team and thus being with other 
social workers really revitalized me.

Being among so many brilliant and knowledgeable people in MY specialty. A feeling of empowerment in an under-appreciated field.

I returned to work motivated, energized and eager to do more great work.

Loved being there, and learned so much!

 

SWHPN Chair

I want to share with you a slide presentation we developed at the International Work Group on Grief and Bereavement a few weeks ago meeting in Victoria Canada.  Our work group’s charge was to identify unique perspectives/contributions of social work in supporting persons facing loss and trauma.  Participants in our work group were from the US (Betsy Clark from NASW and Grace Christ from SWHPN), Wendy Wainwright from Victoria Hospice, Victoria CA, Herman de Monnik, from Netherlands, Amy Chow from University of Hong Kong and Gilbert Fan from National Cancer Center, Singapore. We met in multiple sessions over several days to develop an international perspective on the unique contribution of Social Work in this area.

Slide 1 – We used the somewhat traditional person in environment (PIE) approach and gave  it a new look, “Transformation with Hope”. This emphasizes social work’s contextual perspective across the continuum of care at points of change and transition.

Slide 2 –  (picture of a pie!) the unique contribution of social work in dealing with illness, expected and sudden loss, death dying and bereavement included:

• Being strengths based and hope based (integrating past, present, and future)
• Developmental/lifespan perspectives
• Advocacy for both patient and family/support networks.

Slide 3 – What is Pie? Pie stands for person-in-environment: A social work framework that considers people in the broad context of their environment:

• familial,
• institutional,
• physical,
• spiritual,
• social and cultural,
• political.

Slide 4 – Considering all of the above dimensions, a person in environment approach focuses on persons facing loss and trauma

Slide 5 – Social Work assumptions related to loss and trauma include

• Loss and trauma are often intertwined or integrated
• Grief and trauma reactions are natural responses to critical life events
• Loss and trauma are not restricted to death, but consist of a broader spectrum of occurrences across the life span
• Loss and trauma are not restricted to psychological level, but can be at the social and collective level
• Individuals have strength and hope in facing loss and trauma

Social work principles

• Ethical practice
• Self-reflexivity
• Appreciation of diversity
• Normalization of changes and transitions in life
• Linking micro-mezzo- and macro perspectives
• Advocacy
• Consultative capacity building
• Prevention of adverse consequences and promotion of growth and well being.

Slide 6 – PIE for persons facing loss and trauma: assessment, goals and interventions.

PIE Goals:

• To facilitate peoples’ awareness of their needs to enhance their capacity to address them
• To decrease people’s distress and help them adapt to the transitions of life

PIE Interventions:

• Preventive intervention
• Micro-Mezzo- and Macro Intervention
• Multi-level and multi-focus intervention
• Hope-based Transition Counseling
• PIE Psycho-education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Mark Collen
PAIN Exhibit, Inc.
2443 Fair Oaks Blvd., Suite 334
Sacramento, CA 95825
Email: Mark@PainExhibit.org
Website: www.PainExhibit.org

PAIN Exhibit Launches New Website

Sacramento, CA – April 14, 2013 – PAIN Exhibit, Inc., a non-profit organization, has launched a new website at www.PainExhibit.org.  The website features art from people with chronic pain with their art expressing some facet of the pain experience.  The site currently features 89 pieces of art divided amongst 11 galleries.  A few examples of these galleries include “Portraits of Pain,” “Isolation and Imprisonment,” “But You Look So Normal,” and “Hope and Transformation.”

According to a report from the Institute of Medicine there are an estimated 100 million American adults affected by chronic pain at an annual cost of approximately $600 billion.  Chronic pain is poorly treated in the United States and worldwide.  The mission of the PAIN Exhibit is to educate healthcare providers and the public about chronic pain through art and to give a voice to the many who suffer in silence.

Please visit www.PainExhibit.org to view the art and to learn more.

A SWHPN Press Release

April 2, 2013

(Photos courtesy of Chris Fristad)

New Orleans, LA — The Social Work Hospice & Palliative Care Network (SWHPN) welcomed roughly 250 social workers and other health care professionals to the Downtown Marriott at the Convention Center in New Orleans for the organization’s first annual assembly from March 11-12, 2013. The conference was held in conjunction with the annual assemblies of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) and the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA), which took place later that same week.

This momentous first annual gathering of social workers in this specialty area left many attendees with a sense of togetherness and purpose in a field where psychosocial professionals often feel isolated. “Looking out over the sea of 250 palliative social workers at the SWHPN General Assembly was moving, inspirational and empowering for both presenters and participants,” SWHPN Chair Grace Christ commented.

About SWHPN

SWHPN, a professional organization for social workers in end-of-life, hospice and palliative care, emerged in 2007 from leadership-building initiatives spanning more than a decade, including the Project on Death in America’s Social Work Leadership Awards Program, funded by the Open Society Foundations. The overarching goal of that program, and now SWHPN, was to provide a forum for palliative social workers to collectively exercise leadership and develop and disseminate their knowledge and skill within the profession, within interdisciplinary settings, and within palliative care establishment forums. SWHPN now boasts more than 500 members.

SWHPN’s primary mission is to advance psychosocial care for the seriously ill, providing relief from pain, improving quality of life, supporting family and friends, assisting with difficult decision-making, and helping in dealing with trauma, grief, and loss. The 2013 SWHPN General Assembly in New Orleans was focused around the theme of Advancing Psychosocial Palliative Care through this growing coalition. “This was among the first national forums to convene experts on the psychological and social needs of patients and families facing advanced serious illness,” said SWPHN Vice-Chair Gary Stein. “Our palliative social work speakers and participants are leaders in psychosocial practice, research, and education, as well as in care coordination for our evolving health practices,” he added.

To learn more about SWHPN and to become a member, visit http://members.swhpn.org.

Day 1 Plenary Presentations

Debra Parker Oliver

Plenary sessions allowed attendees to hear from exceptional, inspirational and renowned experts in the field. Opening the conference was Debra Parker Oliver, a SWHPN board member who also spoke at the AAHPM/HPNA meeting with her husband later in the week. Debra’s inspirational talk, The Courage to Be a Caregiver, illustrated her experience as a caregiver during her husband’s cancer journey, coupled with her many years of experience as a palliative care social worker.

Attendees then heard from Terry Altilio, Social Work Coordinator at the Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care and co-editor of the recently published Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work. Her presentation, Honoring the Vertical & Horizontal Planes of Experience: Patient, Family & Clinician, energized the audience and demonstrated the essence of the social work role in palliative care, taking the patient from where they are, exploring where they came from and where they are going in order to create a person-centered care plan.

Terry Altilio

After lunch, attendees heard from Samira Beckwith, President and CEO of Florida’s Hope Healthcare Services, on the topic of Opportunities for Advancing Psychosocial Palliative Care after the Affordable Care Act. The plenary session reassembled to conclude the first day with a keynote by Dr. Charles Figley, of Tulane University School of Social Work on the topic of Lessons Learned from Veterans about Trauma, Grief and Loss.

Ellen Csikai presents in a breakout session

Breakout Presentations

The conference featured approximately 60 breakout presentations over the two days on a wide range of topics, including end-of-life decision making, communication with families, mentoring and professional training, oncology, pediatrics, caregiver support, veterans affairs, cultural competencies, and palliative care in a range of settings from ICU and hospitals to hospice, long-term care facilities and nursing homes. As many of the featured speakers were first-time presenters, this was a unique platform for social workers to demonstrate the important work they are doing on palliative care teams across the country and internationally.

Poster Presentations

Poster displays

Social workers from around the world submitted posters that were on display at the conference near the exhibit area. Poster awards were announced in the morning on the second day. Congratulations to exceptional posters in the following categories:

Top Poster in Diversity - How a Patient’s Ethnic/Religious Culture Affects End of Life Decision-making in the Southeastern United States –Catherine Payne Anderson, MDiv; Judith A. DiPasquale, MSW, LCSW; Reginald Avant, MDiv; Jane Dausner, MS, LCSW, Mary Krambis, RN, BSN. [poster]

Top Poster in Education - Educational Design and Experience of Instructing an Interprofessional Online Continuing Education Workshop: “Palliative Care for Older Adults” – Susan Blacker, MSW, RSW; Dr. Jeff Myers. [poster]

Top Poster in Research - Positive Meaning Making and Posttraumatic Growth when Caring for a Dying Child: A Structural Equation Model – Susan Cadell, PhD. [poster]

Susan Blacker presents her poster to attendees

Top Poster in Practice - Burden of False Hope on Psychosocial Development in the Terminally Ill Patient and Family – Emily J Wild. [poster]

Top Poster in Theory - Before and After: Navigating the Waters from Hospital Based Palliative Care to Community Based Hospice: Understanding the Work across Settings to Enhance Psychosocial Service to Patients and Families – Bridget Sumser, MSW. [poster]

Awardees

In addition to the aforementioned poster awards, SWHPN recognized several awardees at the 2013 SWHPN General Assembly for their exceptional professional achievements:

PDIA Career Achievement Award

Terry Altilio, MSW, ACSW, LCSW, Coordinator of Social Work for the Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center and co-editor of the inaugural Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work (2011).

PDIA Career Achievement Award

SWHPN Vice-Chair Gary Stein presents Grace Christ's award

Grace Christ, DSW/PhD, Research Scientist and Professor Emerita at Columbia University School of Social Work, SWHPN Chair, and author of Healing Children’s Grief.

Awards Committee Chair Daniel Gardner with awardee Jennifer Giuffrida

SWHPN Award of Excellence in Clinical Practice

Jennifer M. Giuffrida, LCSW, ACHP-SW, Director of Social Work at the Schervier Nursing Care Center in Bronx, NY and chair of the Palliative Care Committee.

Susan Murty accepts her award

SWHPN Emerging Leader in Professional Practice Award

Sara Sanders, PhD, MSW, Associate Professor at the University of Iowa School of Social Work and Director of the BSW Program, was unable to attend.

SWHPN Award of Excellence in Professional Education

Susan Murty, PhD, MSW, Associate Professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa, Coordinator of the End-of-Life Care Field of Practice.

SWHPN congratulates Elizabeth Wilde

SWHPN Emerging Leader in Professional Practice Award

Elizabeth A. Wilde, MSW, LCSW, Hospice Social Worker to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Jefferson Barracks Division, St. Louis, MO (STL-VAMC).

Dr. Ira Byock signs copies of his latest book

Day 2 Plenary Presentations

Day two featured a morning plenary talk from Dr. Ira Byock, Professor at Giesel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and Director of Palliative Medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Dr. Byock, former President of AAHPM, then held a book signing for attendees with copies of his latest book, The Best Care Possible, generously donated by SWHPN Board Member Judith Peres.

Colleen Mulkerin

SWHPN Board Member Colleen Mulkerin delivered a very relatable talk Tuesday afternoon on Challenges and Opportunities of a Social Work Director of a Palliative Medicine Consult Service. Colleen’s presentation received high acclaim from the audience, many of whom may have experienced similar challenges and isolation in their own professions.

Dame Barbara Monroe

The conference wrapped up with a view from abroad presented by Dame Barbara Monroe, Chief Executive of St. Christopher’s Hospice in London, and Honorary Professor at the International Observatory on End-of-Life Care at Lancaster University. With a respectful nod to hospice pioneer Sicely Saunders, Dame Monroe’s presentation, Hospice as a Community Hub: Improving Access to Effective Palliative Care, described the successful service delivery model Dame Monroe has implemented to improve patient-centered care in London and championed the role of social work in improving psychosocial palliative care on an international level.

Throughout the two-day conference, the greatest contribution seemed to be the opportunity for palliative social workers to network with professionals from an array of health care settings. Emerging leaders in the field were able to learn from and interact with established experts who provided mentorship and guidance through the SWHPN Mentorship Program.

A mentor and mentee paired at the Assembly

As this organization and initiative grows, we look forward to similar successful annual assemblies in years to come, starting with the March 2014 Assembly in San Diego and the 2015 Assembly in Philadelphia. (Details to be announced on www.swhpn.org.)

Grace Christ and Janice Fristad

SWHPN Gives Back

A group of SWHPN leaders participated in a volunteer effort after the assembly with the St. Bernard Project rebuilding a home flooded during Hurricane Katrina. Many thanks to AmeriCorps volunteer Sam who shared her amazing skills in sanding, skimming and mudding and made this an unforgettable experience.

Grace Christ and Sallie Lynch

Sponsors and Exhibitors

This groundbreaking conference could not have occurred without the support of exhibitors and sponsors representing local, regional and national organizations supporting psychosocial palliative care.

Thank you to our sponsors and exhibitors:

We are very pleased with the positive response we’ve received to our work thus far to convene the first annual SWHPN General Assembly.

As many of you have expressed in your personal correspondence to us, this is a unique and much needed opportunity for professionals in this specialty area of social work to share their accomplishments.

Registration numbers have already exceeded our expectations, but we still need your support to make this all possible.

Please help us keep the momentum going.

 
Become a Friend of SWHPN and receive an acknowledgement in the conference program by making a donation of $100 or more. Organizational donors will have their logo included in the conference program.

Sponsor or exhibit at the Assembly. We are offering advertising opportunities in our conference program and on-site exhibit tables to interact with conference participants in person.
Click here for details.

Deadline: February 15, 2013

SWHPN operates thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our volunteer board and the time our dedicated staff contributes despite demands from other professional obligations. We have made every effort to keep membership dues and conference registration fees as low as possible.

For more information, please visit: http://members.swhpn.org/Meeting

Give back to New Orleans.

Join your colleagues and the St. Bernard Project to volunteer in New Orleans after the conference.
Click here for details.

Deadline: February 22, 2013

Time runs out at midnight EST on January 31, 2013…

There are only three days left to take advantage of early-bird registration rates and to nominate your colleagues for an award.

Deadline: January 31, 2013

Take Advantage of Early-Bird Savings!

Take advantage of early-bird registration rates through by registering online here. For more information about the Assembly, including accommodation and registration, click here.

Deadline: January 31, 2013

Nominate Someone for an Award!

Additional information on each presenter and session will be made available in the conference program and posted online.

There’s only one week left to take advantage of early-bird registration rates and to nominate your colleagues for an award.

Be an Early Bird…

Take advantage of early-bird registration rates through by registering online here. For more information about the Assembly, including accommodation and registration, click here.

Deadline: January 31, 2013

Nominate Exceptional Colleagues…

Nominations are being accepted in the following categories: