WPCNR PROGNOSIS. From Westchester County Community College. April 6, 2004:Individuals and their loved ones can be overwhelmed by grief when there is a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, hindering everyone’s ability to cope with the stress it causes. Families often refer to Alzheimer’s disease as “The Long Goodbye” because the person they know is lost long before the onset of death. To help patients and their families in the throes of this disease, Hospice and Palliative Care of Westchester is sponsoring a “Living with Grief: Alzheimer’s Disease” teleconference on Wednesday, April 28, from 1:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Westchester Community College. Cokie Roberts, ABC News Correspondent, will moderate the panel.
A panel of experts, moderated by ABC News Correspondent Cokie Roberts, will discuss useful strategies for patients, their families, and professional caregivers to continue their lives through the progression of the disease. The teleconference, which will be broadcast nationally, is part of a series of annual “Living with Grief” teleconferences produced by the Hospice Foundation of America. Ms. Roberts has served as moderator of the series for the past 11 years.
“Loss and grief are a significant part of dealing with Alzheimer’s, from diagnosis until death,” says George Batten, MPA, Executive Director of Hospice and Palliative Care of Westchester, which arranged the local viewing. “The teleconference will explore the grief experience of persons in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as grief issues that are experienced by family members throughout the illness and subsequent death.”
Many families dealing with Alzheimer’s disease turn to hospice to provide comfort and support for the entire family. Hospice coordinates physical care for the patient with family counseling through the dying and bereavement process. Services are provided by an integrated team of nurses, social workers, spiritual counselors, volunteers, and home health aides, and are led by a medical director.
“Living with Grief: Alzheimer’s Disease” features this panel of experts:
Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, MDiv, a Professor of Gerontology at the Graduate School of The College of New Rochelle. Dr. Doka was elected President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) in 1993. He was elected to the Board of the International Work Group on Dying, Death and Bereavement in 1995, and served as chair from 1997 to 1999. In 1998, ADEC recognized him for outstanding contributions in the field of death education. Dr. Doka is an ordained Lutheran minister.
Parag Dalsania, MD, director of the Geriatric Clinic for the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington, DC. As Assistant Professor of Medicine for the George Washington University School of Medicine and a faculty advisor for the fellows in Geriatric Medicine Fellowship, he has lectured widely on medical topics related to aging, including Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Dr. Dalsania is a member of the American Geriatric Society and serves as a board member for the local chapter. He also serves as staff Geriatrician for Providence Hospital in Washington, DC.
Lisa P. Gwyther, MSW, LCSW, a clinical social worker with 30 years experience in aging and Alzheimer’s services. In 1980, she started the Duke University Center for Aging’s Alzheimer’s Family Support Program, a model state clearinghouse, training, and technical assistance center for families and professionals caring for people with Alzheimer’s disease. In 2003, Ms. Gwyther was named a distinguished social work practitioner by the National Academies of Practice. Since 1985, Ms. Gwyther has directed the education/information transfer core of the National Institute on Aging-funded Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Duke University Medical Center.
William E. Haley, PhD, who received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He completed a clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship in Geriatric Psychology at the University of Washington-Seattle School of Medicine. After 12 years on the faculty in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dr. Haley joined the University of South Florida’s Department of Gerontology as Professor and Chair in 1995.
Richard J. Ham, MD, Director of the West Virginia University Center on Aging. He is also Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Psychiatry at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center in Morgantown. For ten years, he chaired or co-chaired annual regional professional conferences co-sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association. He also helped organize the First Annual Dementia Congress, which was held in Chicago in September, 2002.
Lin E. Noyes, PhD, RN, Clinical Director of the Alzheimer’s Family Day Center in Falls Church, Virginia, where she has worked since it opened in 1984. She has developed holistic programs for people with Alzheimer’s disease and their families from the early stages of illness to end-stage care. Dr. Noyes is a founding member of the Alzheimer’s Association, Northern Virginia Chapter, and was a member of the Public Policy Committee of the national Alzheimer’s Association from 1989 to 1994.
Therese A. Rando, PhD, BCETS, BCBT, a clinical psychologist in Warwick, Rhode Island. She is the Clinical Director of the Institute for the Study and Treatment of Loss, which provides mental health services through psychotherapy, training, supervision, and consultation. Dr. Rando specializes in loss and grief, traumatic stress, and the psychosocial care of chronically or terminally ill persons and their families.
Medical professionals who attend the teleconference may be eligible for Continuing Educational credits. They should contact the Hospice Foundation of America for further information. (www.hospicefoundation.org)
Hospice and Palliative Care of Westchester provides extraordinary and dignified comfort, care, and compassion to every family facing a serious or life-threatening illness. Its services are designed to help seriously and terminally ill patients live full and comfortable lives, and to provide bereavement counseling to families after a death. The organization’s bereavement support groups are open to the public.
The “Living with Grief: Alzheimber’s Disease” teleconference will take place at Westchester Community College, Classroom Building C100, in Valhalla, NY. To register, contact the Hospice and Palliative Care of Westchester in White Plains at 914-682-1484. The fee for both the conference and a companion book is $15.
