COMMON THREADS
The signature speakers' bureau of Life Quality Institute, Common Threads, provides unique presentations to inform and engage individuals in meaningful conversations about palliative care.
Presentations
To request a speaker for one of the following presentations OR to develop a presentation specific to your audience, contact Jane Barton at (303) 398-6230 or at jbarton@lifequalityinstitute.org.
Caregiving Programs
The Family Challenge of Illness
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
Chronic, advanced, or terminal illness is not an individual crisis; rather, it is a family challenge. Illness threatens to destabilize the family system thus impacting everyone in the system. The various stages of an illness (acute, chronic, and terminal) require different responses and skills for a family to effectively meet the various challenges of an illness. Understanding the family structure, communication styles, family beliefs, and multigenerational patterns is beneficial for pastoral and healthcare professionals as well as family members.
Creating Communities of Care via Share The Care™
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
As our country debates and explores the various options for healthcare reform, there is one point about which we can all agree – caregiving is a daunting, problematic challenge requiring innovative approaches. The solution lies in coming together and working collaboratively to support and serve the person – patient, healthcare provider, and community members establishing a solid foundation of care. Creating Communities of Care via Share The CareTM is an essential part of the solution as it instructs and encourages community members to support each other. Communal care supports any proposed care management plan, leveraging critical care resources and serving to keep the patient at the heart of care. A very good thing indeed.
Creating Communities of Care via Share The CareTM is a cost effective, efficient, compassionate model of communal caregiving designed to compliment and support other patient centered models of care. Care receivers and caregivers invite family members, friends, colleagues, and volunteers to share in the responsibilities of care so that no one person is overwhelmed by the experience. Throughout the process, people feel supported. Communities are strengthened. Resources are accessed and leverage. The quality of life for all is enhanced.
The Costs of Caring: The Impact of Caregiving on Men
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
Caregiving is a common concern for all of us in the United States resulting from longer life expectancies and projected demographic trends. Regardless of our age or gender, we will be called upon to care for someone we know and love. Women in western culture have historically been viewed as the “caregiver”(only 20% of caregivers were men); however, men are now assuming the role more often in recent years (>40% of caregivers are men). It is important to recognize and understand how men and women experience the role of caregiver…commonalities and differences. Quite often due to different communication styles, social support, and approaches to grieving, men experience the role of caregiver quite differently than women.
Grief and Bereavement Programs
Grief: Out of the Closet
The Need to Mourn Our Losses
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
We live in a society that grieves well and mourns poorly. We have become experts in stuffing our emotions, avoiding the pain of our losses, and diverting our attention through addictive behaviors. There comes a time when we need to air out our losses, experience and express the intensity of our emotions, and understand that our losses must be integrated into our lives, not avoided.
Grief “At Work”
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
Have you ever experienced the death of a co-worker? Has a co-worker experienced a significant loss? If you are a healthcare professional, have you experienced the loss of a patient? When employed, have you experienced a significant loss? If you answer yes to any of these questions, you have experienced grief “at work.” Too often in the workplace we do not know how to respond to those who are grieving. Instead of avoiding the obvious pain, let’s explore the possibilities of supporting and companioning one another as we honor the losses in our lives.
Belief and Grief: What is the Connection?
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
How does your perception of God (the Divine) shape your experience of loss? Are you angry? Sad? Confused? Do you feel abandoned? Comforted? Companioned? Do you have doubts about what you believe to be true? Grief, promoted by suffering and loss, often challenges our foundational beliefs, literally bringing us to our knees in search of help and hope.
Consider the possible reactions and responses to suffering and loss by revisiting the well known story of Job. The story of Job eloquently articulates the issue of theodicy. Theodicy is defined as the justification of God in response to the charge that undeserved suffering/loss is incompatible with God’s omnipotence and perfect goodness. The different responses to catastrophic loss exhibited by Job, his friends, and the author reflect the respective expectations (beliefs) each character has of God. Furthermore, the individual’s experience of loss is predicated on their personal beliefs.
Viktor Frankl also explored the issue of inexplicable suffering and concluded that to live is to suffer. Human beings cannot control everything that happens in their lives; however, we always have the freedom to choose an attitude in response to the situation. Again, the chosen attitude emanates from personal beliefs, expectations, and understanding of the circumstances. Frankl encourages people to resist the disempowering, victimizing “Why me?” mentality. Instead, respond to suffering and associated losses with a proactive, transformational approach of “What Now?”
Please join us to consider and to question how our beliefs influence the grieving process. Additionally, reflect on how our experience of loss transforms our understanding of God (the Divine). Explore how your spiritual beliefs serve to inform, shape, and influence your journey through grief as we discuss the plight of Job as well as four contemporary case studies depicting death, career, relationship, and health losses. Belief and Grief: What is the Connection?
Spirituality and Healthcare Programs
Caring Insights: The Wisdom of Sheep
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
How does our faith, our foundational spiritual beliefs, inform our ability to give and receive care? For most, we have an inherent desire to help other people; we give of our time, talents, and treasures to those in need. However, it is very difficult to ask for help. By exploring Psalm 23 and examining the role of "good shepherd," perhaps we can gain a new perspective on the continuous cycle of giving AND receiving.
Viewing Illness and End-of-Life through the Spiritual Lens
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
When working with patients and their families, pastoral caregivers and healthcare professionals must understand how patients perceive illness. Punishment? A test of faith? Biological defect? Luck of the draw? There is not a “right” answer or universal truth regarding illness. However, a patient’s rendering of the illness often reveals her approach to knowledge and truth. What lens is she viewing the situation through and thereby making sense of the situation? Cultural? Spiritual? Family Norms? Historical? The interpretation of the events in life, the ability to cope, and the subsequent discernment of meaning relates directly to the construction of knowledge and the determination of truth. Furthermore, the patient’s understanding of an illness will inform how the patient experiences the illness and the decisions made regarding treatment options and end of life care. In order to cope with a life limiting illness, we often resort to our foundational, sustaining principles: religious and/or spiritual beliefs. When considering the functional nature of religion, it is concerned with how people come to terms with the ultimate issues of life such as death, suffering, tragedy, evil, and pain. It is the search for significance. By being sensitive, respectful, and attentive to the influence of spiritual beliefs regarding end of life decisions, we are better able to compassionately address the ethical dilemmas so prevalent in healthcare today and thereby hopefully avoid divisive confrontation. We must seek to understand before we seek to be understood.
How is it with Your Soul?
What is existential suffering, and why is it a concern at the end of life? The forces which are recognized to exert existential suffering have in common a challenge to "self," the patient’s actual or perceived threat to his or her own identity and integrity. Looked at another way, existential suffering calls into question the continuity of the "I" by which individuals refer to themselves. Frequently, as death approaches and comes to be "accepted," these major concerns of the previous period become less pressing, but in some patients they persist to the end. Explore the relationship between spirituality and existential suffering to learn appropriate assessment tools and effective interventions.
Hospice and Palliative Care Programs
Hospice and Palliative Care: A Philosophy of Compassionate Care
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
Palliative care is an interdisciplinary approach to healthcare that recognizes the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of illness. Interdisciplinary teams of healthcare professionals serve patients and families to address suffering at various levels…mind, body, and spirit. Hospice is a form of palliative care reserved for those deemed terminal with less than six (6) months to live.
LIFE Wishes
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
This may come as a shock to some, but death is not optional. We as human beings are born "terminal"…we ain't getting outta here alive! This is said not to trivialize death; rather, it is said to highlight the importance of living each moment. Since we have no guarantees other than our mortality, we should be compelled to discuss and explain our end-of-life wishes with our family and friends. Do not miss this opportunity to explore the various options for advance directives, Ethical Wills, and final arrangements. Your life depends on it.
Taking the Pulse of Palliative Care
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
Palliative care is an appealing philosophical approach to healthcare. Who could find fault with comprehensive, coordinated, compassionate care? The challenge arises when trying to implement this philosophy within the context of healthcare and insurance systems designed to support and to reimburse curative practices. In order to overcome the daunting challenges confronting palliative care today, we must first understand and appreciate how attitudes toward death and dying inform and influence policy, practice, and accessibility of care. A historical perspective of end-of-life care is also critically important when attempting to chart the future course of palliative care. Furthermore, we must design systems and approaches to meet the growing needs of our aging population. It is sobering to realize that the challenges noted by Dr. Diane Meier in 2010 are the same challenges noted by Dr. Balfour Mount in 1985 when considering the future of palliative care: attitudes regarding end-of-life care, accessibility of palliative care services, recruitment of qualified staff, and funding and reimbursement of palliative care services. Palliative care is an approach to healthcare that is needed and wanted by society. Our challenge is to integrate the palliative care philosophy into our current system of care such that palliative care becomes the standard of care, a best practice that serves the individual and our society well.
Miscellaneous Programs
Compassion Fatigue: Reduced Capacity to Care
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
To witness the suffering of another person (emotionally, spiritually, or physically) puts us at risk of experiencing compassion fatigue. Whether working as a professional caregiver or companioning our friends and family, we often manifest the stress expressed by those we serve due to our empathetic and compassionate response to the situation. We must learn to recognize the signals of compassion fatigue, in ourselves and our colleagues, and subsequently engage in corrective behaviors.
Moral Distress: The Elephant in the Room
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
A person experiences moral distress as a result of an ethical conflict in which one is constrained from doing the morally “right” thing. Within our healthcare system today, clinical, psycho-social, spiritual, and administrative professionals confront complex medical questions and concerns that give rise to moral distress. In a broader context, all those working in end-of-life professions are at risk of experiencing moral distress. Moral distress is often depicted by increased employee dissatisfaction, diminished quality of patient/family care, and elevated staff attrition rates. Therefore, it is important to distinguish moral distress from other forms of stress so that the root of the distress can be effectively addressed. The goal is not to eliminate moral distress. Rather, the goal is to recognize, confront, and transform the “elephant in the room.”
Cultural Competency in Palliative Care
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
Cultural competency is a topic of great interest within the healthcare profession currently. It is defined as “a set of academic and personal skills that allow us to increase our understanding and appreciation of cultural differences between groups” (www.amsa.org/programs). Cultural Competency is a term rejected by some because it implies competency is acquired by developing a particular skill set. Instead, cultural competence has more to do with respectful and thoughtful inquiry combined with attentive listening. Those who profess to be culturally competent must have well developed powers of observation and listening. Cultural competence is not about learning of a particular group of people. It is about knowing an individual within the context of their cultural background and interacting appropriately.
Professional Boundaries: Discerning the Line in the Sand
Jane W. Barton, MTS, MASM
Professional boundaries are needed to protect patients and families as well as healthcare providers. This statement is reinforced by the existing codes of ethics and standards of conducts associated with specific disciplines within the healthcare community. It is important for a healthcare provider to understand the demarcation between self and patient/client in order to serve in a mutually beneficial manner. However, boundaries are diverse in nature, some seemingly difficult to distinguish at times. It is therefore important to review periodically the characteristics of boundaries, the authoritative sources defining boundaries, the varieties of boundaries, the evidence and implications of crossed boundaries, and the available resources for boundary resolutions.
To schedule a presentation for your organization, church, social or civic group, agency, corporation, or educational institution, please contact Jane Barton at (303) 398-6230 or email at jbarton@lifequalityinstitute.org.
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