Evelyn Corsini, MSW, of Inflexxion, Inc., is the Content Manager for the PainEDU and painACTION websites. She is a medical social worker with many years of experience working with chronically ill children, adolescents, young adults, and their families.

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Questions

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Pravin Pant:

What was your overall impression of the AAHPM/HPNA annual assembly?

Evelyn Corsini, MSW: This was the first time I attended this assembly, and I give it my highest rating. There were many excellent sessions to attend with many well-qualified experts. Of the greatest importance to me, was the feeling I had that everyone there was extremely passionate about their work.

Much of the information presented was new to me, so I learned a great deal. I quickly realized that in spite of all my years of work with chronically ill patients, including at the end of their lives, I did not understand the term “palliative care” correctly. I learned that it can refer to many years of a patient’s life, if they are living with a condition that leads to an inevitable decline and death. The fact that I was thinking of palliative care in only the most narrow of terms, as just the last few months of life, was clearly wrong, and did not do justice to the partnership forged between palliative care professionals and the patients and families, during their long journeys.

This message came through to me most clearly in the presentation by Gail Sheehy, titled "Finding the ‘Why’ to Live". She talked about her soon-to-be released book, "Passages in Caregiving: Turning Chaos into Confidence", that describes her many years as the caregiver for her husband, journalist Clay Felker, through 17 years of cancer treatment. She described the dilemma when her husband was ready to leave the hospital, but still required a great deal of daily care, as being a “medical refugee”. I felt she had used just the right words to define what I had experienced as the status of a patient who no longer needs acute care.

PP: Who attended the assembly?

EC: This was truly an interdisciplinary conference. I met many physicians, nurses, pharmacists and social workers, and saw demonstrated in front of me how the disciplines work together in palliative care and hospice teams.

The conference organizers announced that this was the largest assembly ever. 2,400 individuals were registered, and they came from all over the United States, Canada, and other countries.

PP: Please describe one of the assembly highlights.

EC: For me, there were many highlights, but to single one out it must be the Plenary Session presented by Deborah L. Grassman, a hospice nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which she titled “Wounded Warriors: Their Last Battle”. Her 25 years of experience with veterans taught her that many, especially those who have experienced combat, might need special help reaching psychological healing at the end of their lives. Often they must deal with feelings, including guilt and shame, related to unresolved war trauma.

Since veterans often receive palliative and hospice care outside of a VA facility, what she has learned will help many others who work in these fields. Ms. Grassman has written a book, "Peace At Last: Stories of Hope and Healing for Veterans and Their Families", to help caregivers, family members, and veterans themselves, understand the impact of war and military culture on lives and emotions.

PP: What were other notable presentations from this year’s assembly?

EC: There were so many good sessions, it is hard to choose. No one person could attend all of the sessions. Because of my own past work experience, I particularly enjoyed learning about an “Interdisciplinary Model of Palliative Care Fellowship Training”, of medical residents, nurse practitioners, and social workers, presented by staff at Children’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston: Tamara Vesel, MD, Janet Duncan, MSW, and Marsha Joselow, MSW.

I also found it exciting to attend a session on “Assessing Pain in Persons with Advanced Dementia” led by some of the most prominent researchers in the field, Mary Ersek, PhD, RN, Keela Herr, PhD, RN, and Joseph Shega, MD. This is a difficult area for clinicians, and it was encouraging to know that there is so much interest in this problem.

PP: What are the future plans for this assembly?

EC: The next Annual Assembly is scheduled to be held in Vancouver, Canada, in February 2011.