Improving Care for Veterans Facing Illness and Death 

Hospicare and the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute present the Hospice Foundation of America’s Annual Living with Grief Spring Program: Improving Care for Veterans Facing Illness and Death. To register for this program, click the "Register Now" button at the bottom of this page.

This program: 

• Assists end-of-life care provider organizations and health and human service professionals in enhancing their sensitivities and understanding of veterans.
  
• Provides professionals with new interventions to better serve dying veterans and their families.
  
• Looks organizationally at military benefits and intersections with VA systems.
  
• Explores the traditions and sensitivities of grieving families and resources that can assist them.

Attention is placed on veteran generations now aging and most likely to be seen in end-of-life care (WWII, Korean War, Vietnam). 

Hospicare will host this program and will facilitate a panel discussion with local experts involved in providing support to veterans.

There is no fee to attend this program; however there is a small cost if participants wish to receive continuing education (CE) credits and/or to purchase the companion book.  Improving Care for Veterans Facing Illness and Death is available for 3 credits of continuing education. CE credits are available to participants online for $35.

 

Local Panel Discussion:

The local panel discussion will be facilitated by Kirsten Miller, RN, CHPN, Associate Director of Patient Services at Hospicare and features our local panelists:

• Ruth Strodel, LMSW, Advanced Illness Care Coordinator at Syracuse VA Medical Center
• Marty Stallone, MD, Cayuga Medical Center
• Josh Swiller, LMSW, Provider Relations Specialist at Hospicare

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the unique components of military culture and
   experiences;
2. Define Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and indicate
   ways that PTSD might affect veterans at varied points
   within the lifecycle;
3. Differentiate the unique experiences and health risks of the
   following veteran cohorts – WWII, Korea, and Vietnam War military
   veterans;
4. Discuss different issues that might arise in end-of-life care of
   veterans such as pain management, trauma and PTSD, and
   forgiveness;
5. Discuss sensitivities and interventions, such as reminiscence
   and life review that enhance counseling to veterans and their families.
6. Describe the varied systems of care that might serve veterans at
   the end of life and discuss the ways that policies and systems could
   enhance care;
7. Describe the lessons and insights professionals may glean from
   caring for veterans that might have general implications for the broader
   population of non-veterans and end-of-life care.

Register Now!