The Turbulent Landscape of End-of-Life Ethics in California

COURSE DESCRIPTION

On April 11, the Hospice Foundation of America will hold its annual Living With Grief® annual program, this year focusing on “A Shifting Landscape for End-of-Life Ethics.” A distinguished panel of experts will use a case study approach to review and explore well-established ethical principles of end-of life care in the presence of emerging legal, social, and technological change. Cases studies will include topics such as futile treatment, communication, opioid usage, concurrent care, voluntarily stopping eating and drinking, medical aid in dying, and more.

On April 25, the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California will hold a companion event, “The Turbulent Landscape of End-of-Life Ethics in California,” to explore these issues and others as they relate to the particularly seismic changes in our state. Our panel, representing several clinical disciplines and a variety of healthcare and nonprofit settings, will unpack longstanding and emerging ethical challenges, exacerbated by the pandemic, clinician burnout, rampant corporatization of hospice, population and demographic shifts, and accelerating needs for palliative care and sustainable reimbursement. This event will “tee off” from the HFA webinar, but attendance at the HFA event is not required. 

Register for the HFA event here, April 11, 9AM PDT; $39.00/$27.50 members; 2 CE
Register for the CCCC event below, April 25, Noon PDT; $49.00/FREE members; 1 CE

The first 10 people to register for and attend the April 25 program will receive a FREE copy of the HFA book published to accompany the event, End-of-Life Ethics in a Changing World, edited by Kenneth J. Doka, Bruce Jennings, Timothy W. Kirk, and Amy S. Tucci.

*You don’t have to attend the HFA program to find the CCCC event valuable, but it’s recommended! Both events will be recorded and available for viewing after the event date. CCCC’s webinar recording is available only to members. Learn more about CCCC membership here.

OBJECTIVES

• Identify how well-established ethical principles of end-of-life care are being challenged in a new regulatory, clinical, and societal environment.
• Describe how issues such as futile treatment, opioid usage, voluntarily stopping eating and drinking, corporatization of hospice care, and medical aid in dying relate to major changes happening in our state.
• Compare emerging ethical challenges exacerbated by the pandemic, clinical burnout, and accelerating needs for palliative care and sustainable reimbursement as they are manifesting in California vs. the U.S. generally.

FACULTY

Moderator: 

Bruce Jennings, MA, Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society, Vanderbilt University, and co-editor of HFA’s End-of-Life Ethics in a Changing World book.

Bruce Jennings, MA, is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Health Policy and the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt University. He came to Vanderbilt in 2015 from the Yale University School of Public Health, where he taught ethics from 1996–2014, and from The Hastings Center where he served as executive director is now senior advisor and fellow. He has worked on ethical issues in the areas of end-of-life care, hospice and palliative care, long-term care, public health, and health policy. His books include Access to Hospice Care: Expanding Boundaries, Overcoming Barriers. (2003), The Hastings Center Guidelines for Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment and Care Near the End of Life (2013); Hospice Ethics: Policy and Practice in Palliative Care (2014), and Ecological Governance: Toward a New Social Contract with the Earth (2106).

Panelists:
Craig Dresang, MA, Chief Executive Officer, YoloCares, a community hospice serving the Sacramento Valley and author of “The Ethics of Hospice: Does Hospice History and Philosophy Match the Current Landscape of End-of-Life Care?” in the HFA book.

Craig Dresang, MA, CEO, YoloCares, brings more than 25 years of nonprofit management experience to his post, including 15 years as a senior leader in healthcare. Prior to his role at YoloCares, Dresang was the vice president for Community Development and Programs for Midwest Palliative and Hospice CareCenter in Chicago, a $30 million healthcare organization that ranked in the top 20 nationwide for quality inpatient care, and was recognized as one of Chicago’s top 100 workplaces. Under Craig’s leadership, Midwest CareCenter raised $13 million to build the State of Illinois’ first LEED® Gold certified hospice residence, which was awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council for successfully incorporating design, construction and operational practices to achieve cost-efficiency, energy savings and environmental sustainability.

Paula Goodman-Crews, MSW, LCSW, Director, Kaiser Permanente Southern California Bioethics Program; Bioethics Director, Kaiser Permanente San Diego; Co-Chair, Kaiser Permanente Inter-Regional Medical Ethics Committee

Paula Goodman-Crews, MSW, LCSW, has served since 2007 as director of Kaiser Permanente Southern California Regional Bioethics Program and co-chair of the Regional Bioethics Committee, and since 2000 as the bioethics director for Kaiser Permanente San Diego. There she serves as a staff clinical ethicist and co-chair of the Medical Center Bioethics Committee. She provides health care ethics consultations, champions ethics quality improvement projects, facilitates and creates policy and clinical practice guidelines related to improving care consistent with ethical norms, and offers education to professional staff, Kaiser members, and the community at large. Paula also serves as co-chair for Kaiser Permanente Inter-Regional Medical Ethics Committee providing leadership on a national level, and as co-chair for the San Diego Bioethics Commission, which she helped to establish under the auspices of the San Diego Medical Society. 

Pramita Kuruvilla, MD, FAAFP, HEC-C, Associate Professor of Medicine at UCSF and physician with the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and the inpatient Palliative Care Service

Pramita Kuruvilla, MD, FAAFP, HEC-C, is a palliative care physician who worked for many years as an ICU physician and bioethics consultant prior to coming to UCSF, and she has extensive experience caring for patients and families navigating critical illness. She earned her medical degree at Yale University School of Medicine, then completed a family medicine residency at UCSF-affiliated Contra Costa Regional Medical Center (CCRMC). She completed her fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine at UCSF. Prior to joining UCSF, she was assistant medical director of Critical Care Services, chair of the CCRMC Bioethics Committee, and a volunteer with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in peri-civil war Côte d'Ivoire. Pramita is currently an associate professor of Medicine at UCSF, where she works clinically with the Symptom Management Service at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and the inpatient Palliative Care Service.

John Tastad, MA, coordinator for Spiritual Support Services at Sharp HospiceCare, and the coordinator for the Advance Care Planning program at Sharp HealthCare.

John Tastad, MA, is the coordinator for Spiritual Support Services at Sharp HospiceCare, and the coordinator for the Advance Care Planning program at Sharp HealthCare. In his 22nd year at Sharp, John’s academic training includes undergraduate studies at Bushnell University and graduate studies at Fuller Theological Seminary and the University of San Diego. John is past chair of the San Diego Coalition for Compassionate Care and is actively involved in bioethics at Sharp and in the community. John has frequently spoken on topics related to bioethics, spiritual care and advance care planning for many academic institutions and organizations, and has served as subject matter expert and lecturer for several professional education courses at the California State University Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care, including the Certificate in Palliative Care for Advanced Practice Nurses, and the Advance Care Planning self-paced series. 

Jennifer Moore Ballentine, MA, Chief Executive Officer, Coalition for Compassionate Care of California, a nonprofit seeking to improve the experience of serious illness through system change, and author of “The Case for Ethics Education in Hospice and Palliative Care” in the HFA book.

Jennifer Moore Ballentine, MA, has 24 years’ experience in hospice and palliative care, healthcare ethics, public policy, adult education, and nonprofit leadership. She currently serves as CEO of the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California. Previously she held positions as executive director of the CSU Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care; executive director of Life Quality Institute; and director of professional programs for the Colorado Center for Hospice and Palliative Care. She chaired the Denver Community Bioethics Committee, and as member of the Centura Health at Home Ethics Committee, the board of directors for the Colorado Healthcare Ethics Forum, and the NHPCO Ethics Advisory Council. Jennifer has authored text chapters, journal articles, and professional curricula on ethics. She holds a master’s degree from Regis University, a certificate in gerontology from University of Colorado–Colorado Springs, and a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Full attendance at the live webinar (you must attend a minimum of 50 minutes) is a prerequisite for receiving professional continuing education credit. Attendees requesting CEU credit must each call into the webinar individually using the call-in number and computer link from your instruction email for your attendance to be documented. If you do not follow these directions, there is no official documentation of your attendance, and you will not receive CEU credit for this webinar. Ask us about special arrangements offered to CCCC organization members.

You are also required to complete an online survey within 14 days following the webinar to receive a CEU certificate or certificate of attendance. A link to the evaluation will be provided in an email sent to you within 48 hours following the webinar. The email will also include links to the presentation recording and slides. Certificates will be sent via email. 

Nursing: Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #CEP 15403, for one (1) contact hour.

Social Work: Course meets the qualifications for one (1) hour of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. CCCC is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LCSWs and LMFTs, Provider #91987. 

Chaplains: This program may be used for continuing education credit for chaplains certified with the Board of Chaplaincy Certification Inc.

CANCELLATION POLICY
Cancellations must be made in writing no later than three (3) business days prior to the webinar and sent to [email protected] to receive a full refund. No refunds will be made after this date. Substitutions are encouraged and can be made by calling (916) 489-2222.

Registrants will receive a separate email from Zoom with their link to join the event.

ANY QUESTIONS? CCCC maintains responsibility for this course and its content. Please contact us at (916) 489-2222 or email [email protected] with any questions, to address a grievance, or to request special ADA accommodation needs.

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