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 ST. BONAVENTURE-Mary Labyak, chief executive officer of Hospice of the Florida Suncoast of Largo, Fla., will be the keynote speaker Tuesday at a day-long inaugural conference on end-of-life issues, "Grace At The End of Life", hosted by the Bogoni Center at St. Bonaventure University.
The conference is for nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, physician assistants, hospital, nursing home, hospice and other healthcare administrators and caregivers, counselors, chaplains, health education specialists and human service providers interested in end-of-life and palliative care.
It is being co-sponsored by the Bogoni Center and the Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center of Upstate New York.
Labyak is the president and CEO of Woodside Hospice where Terri Schiavo died in March, 2005. Terri had resided at Woodside since April 2000 although the federal guidelines require that admission be based on a finding that the patient is terminal, having six months or less to live.
The conference will examine gerontology and end-of-life issues from a palliative approach. Labyak's discussion will provide attendees with a springboard for examining other important social, ethical, organizational and professional issues and challenges confronting the end-of-life, the aging population, and the fields of geriatrics and gerontology. An opportunity to gain knowledge to improve the quality of care from a variety of approaches will also be provided.
Conference participants will discuss the provision of high-quality end-of-life care as an important public health issue; support, create and maintain effective dialogue around the importance of addressing spirituality and ethics at the end of life among patients, family, friends and caregivers; appreciate the challenges to delivering health care in an increasingly diverse setting; influence the installation of palliative care approaches to caregiving in their respective institutions; and understand the potential shifts in emphasis occurring in geriatrics and gerontology and the need to assure a humanistic experience around aging, caregiving, dying and bereavement.
For more information or to sign up for the conference, visit www.sbu.edu or call (716)-379-3391. 6-19-06
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© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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