By JUDY RATTNER
It drew a crowd from many disciplines - nurses and nursing students, social workers, physicians, clergy, health care and academic professionals and administrators - more than sponsors expected. The conference was organized by Molloy College in conjunction with FEGS Health and Human Services System, North Shore/LIJ Health System, the Edith Richner End of Life Resource Center and other community partners.
The inspiration for the event was the experience of the Richner family, which lost its much-loved matriarch, Edith Richner, to a rare brain disorder, Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease, in the fall of 2006.
"We watched each day as the disease ravaged my mother's brain," said Stuart Richner, co-publisher of the Herald Community Newspapers, in a moving description of his family's two-month ordeal. "We visited the best medical doctors and medical institutions in the country but soon came to realize that there was no known medical cure or treatment for this disease. These experts...would send us on our way with a handshake and a 'good luck.' Here we were... feeling totally lost and helpless. The medical profession, as we knew it, had neither answers nor much compassion for our situation.
"As a result of our experience," Richner continued, "my brothers and I realized the dire need to educate and inform those faced with end of life issues - that end of life issues were only going to become more prevalent as the population aged and that informational resources were desperately needed, both for the sick as well as those caring for them.
"This conference is the first step in that direction, a step that will hopefully lead to a more educated group of health and human service professionals, a more compassionate society for all of us to live in and, eventually, to the establishment of the Edith Richner End of Life Resource Center here on Long Island," he said.
Richner had many to thank, including a number of people at Molloy - Dr. Drew Bogner, its president, Louis Cino, director of the Division of Continuing Education and Professional Development, Dr. Valerie Collins, vice president for Academic Affairs and dean of Faculty and Dr. Bernadette Curry, dean of Nursing; Lynda Cooper, director of North Shore/LIJ's Palliative Care Institute, as well as FEGS' Kathy Rosenthal, vice president of FEGS' family services and Long Island regional operations and Lori Hardoon, director of FEGS' Partners in Dignity program. He also thanked Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos who has promised support for the program.
In her introductory comments, Molloy's Dean of Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Valerie Collins pointed out Molloy's focus on health sciences with strong nursing, psychology, social work and allied health programs. She called the rapid progress in the end-of life care area "heartening." And Kathy Rosenthal, vice president for FEGS family services and Long Island regional operations said it's important to educate the community about end of life issues and work toward the improvement of quality of care and the cost savings that hospice offers.
Jay R. Horton, clinical coordinator for the Lillian and Benjamin Hertzberg Care Institute at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine was the conference keynote speaker. With close to 240 people packing the Wilbur Arts Center Theater to hear him, Horton charted the growth of palliative care in hospital settings - 31 percent of them now have such a program, more than double what existed in 2000 - and he defined what he prefers to call 'palliative" rather than "end-of-life" care.
"The goal of palliative care is to prevent and relieve suffering and to support the best possible quality of life for patients and their families, regardless of the stage of the disease or the need for other therapies," he said, adding, "Palliative care expands traditional disease-model medical treatments to include the goals of enhancing quality of life for patient and family, optimizing function, helping with decision-making and providing opportunities for personal growth. As such, it can be delivered concurrently with life-prolonging care or as the main focus of care."
One of 20 speakers at the conference, Horton outlined the details of establishing and maintaining a high functioning interdisciplinary team. He said such teams would be ideal for other health care settings and that "this care needs to be provided wherever people end up - in a hospital, nursing home or at home."
More information on the Palliative Care Conference is available at (516) 678-5000 ext. 6357 and at the event's Web site, www.molloy.edu/ce/pcc.
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