March 22, 2001

Ramapo College To Host Hospice Foundation Of America's Annual Living With Grief Teleconference
'Caregiving And Loss: Family Needs, Professional Responses'

(Mahwah) -- On Wednesday, April 18, Ramapo College of New Jersey will join more than 2,000 organizations across the United States and Canada as a local host for the Hospice Foundation of America's Eighth Annual Living With Grief Teleconference. "Caregiving and Loss: Family Needs, Professional Responses," a live-via-satellite video teleconference moderated by Cokie Roberts of ABC News, will examine ways that professionals can better understand and respond to the needs of family caregivers.

Registration will begin at 12:30 p.m. in Friends Hall (SC-219). An introduction to the program is scheduled at 1 p.m.; the teleconference will begin promptly at 1:30 p.m. A follow-up discussion will run from 4 to 5 p.m. Admission is $10; $8 for Ramapo alumni; free to Ramapo students/faculty/staff. The event is co-sponsored by Rampao's School of Social Science and Human Services and the UMDNJ/Ramapo College Joint Nursing Programs.

"It is estimated that there are more than 25 million family caregivers in this country providing 80 percent of home care services. In many cases this valuable work is unrecognized," commented Jack D. Gordon, chairman of the Hospice Foundation of America."Caregiving is especially challenging for those coping with terminal illness and facing end-of-life decisions. It's important for healthcare professionals to understand the unique needs of family caregivers and assist them in ways that will provide support and understanding."

This program will offer insight and practical suggestions for those assisting family caregivers as they respond to the challenges of caregiving, make critical end-of-life decisions, and cope with their grief. In addition to moderator Cokie Roberts, the program will feature a distinguished panel of experts, with a special message from former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.

The teleconference is produced by Hospice Foundation of America, a non-profit organization that works to educate healthcare professionals and the families they serve in issues relating to terminal illness, grief and bereavement. The program is sponsored in part by a grant from the Foundation for End of Life Care, Project on Death in America of the Open Society Institute, and in cooperation with the Association for Death Education and Counseling and The Compassionate Friends. The annual broadcast reaches an estimated live audience of 150,000 people nationwide.

Roberts will moderate the two-and-one-half-hour panel discussion. The panel will include Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, Lutheran minister and professor of gerontology at the College of New Rochelle; Bernice Catherine Harper, MSW, medical care advisor of the Health Care Financing Administration; Carol Levine, MA, director of the Families and Health Care Project of the United Hospital Fund; Susan Reinhard, RN, PhD, executive director of the Center for Medicare Education, Institute for the Future of Aging Services; and Myrl Weinberg, CAE, president of the National Health Council.

NOTE: News media are encouraged to attend. For more information, call Patricia Hunt Perry, (201) 684-7625.