Conference explores care for the dying

Do most Americans die “a good death”, with care provided for their emotional and spiritual needs and their pain well-managed? If not, how can health care providers and families improve the way dying patients are cared for?

Hundreds of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, social workers and other caregivers will take a critical look at how people die in America, at a conference entitled “The Challenges of Palliative Care: Current Progress and Future Initiatives.” The conference, to be held April 23 and 24 at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison, will feature renowned guest faculty as well as several UW experts in palliative care.

Kathleen Foley, director of the Project on Death in America and head of the palliative care service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, is the keynote speaker. Foley will also present a free public lecture at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 22, on “Care at the End of Life.” Her talk will be preceded by a showing of the HBO film “Wit” at 5:30 p.m.

Other conference highlights include:

• 9-10 a.m. Monday, April 23: “The Challenges of Palliative Care,” presented by Foley. She argues that society needs to broaden the discussion of physician-assisted suicide to include other issues people care deeply about: how we die, where we die, who cares for us at the end of life, how pain is controlled, how cultural, religious and spiritual beliefs are handled, and how caregivers are supported.
• 10:20-11:05 a.m. Monday: “End of Life in the ICU: Agenda for Change,” presented by Karin Kirchhoff, professor at UW–Madison School of Nursing. Kirchhoff will describe studies she is conducting on how hospital ICUs – where about one-fifth of Americans die – provide care to patients and their families.
• 11:10-11:55 a.m. Monday: Grace Christ, associate professor at Columbia University School of Social Work, will present “Talking with Children When a Parent is Dying.”
• 10:35-11:45 a.m. Tuesday, April 24: Music therapist Deborah Salmon, who works exclusively with terminal patients in the palliative care unit of Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, will present her experiences in providing music therapy for such patients.