Hearing: "The End of Life: Improving Care, Easing Pain and Helping Families"
Date/time: Monday, July 17, 2000, at 1:30 p.m.
Location: 628 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Description: Experts across a multitude of disciplines agree that Americans receive too little guidance on important end-of-life issues. These issues include whether to die at home or in a hospice facility and how much pain treatment to receive. The lack of attention to these issues can lead to hardships, both for the terminally ill patient and his or her family. Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Special Committee on Aging, and Sen. John Breaux, ranking member, will convene a hearing to highlight a number of professional and public education initiatives that are under way to inform Americans about appropriate end-of-life care.
Witness List
First Panel:
Shelly Twiford. Ms. Twiford's mother received poor care at the end of her life, including inadequate pain management and frustrating interactions with health care practitioners; Dakota City, Neb.
Peggy Gulotta. Mrs. Gulotta will relate her positive experience with hospice services in the final weeks of her late husband's life; New Orleans, La.
Second Panel:
Joanne Lynn, M.D., President, Americans for Better Care of the Dying; Director, RAND Center to Improve Care of the Dying; Arlington, Va.
James Tulsky, M.D., Associate Director, Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life; Associate Professor of Medicine, Duke University; Director, Program on the Medical Encounter and Palliative Care, Durham Veterans Administration Medical Center; Durham, N.C.
Linda Todd, R.N., Director, Hospice of Siouxland; Regional Representative, Board of Directors, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization; Sioux City, Iowa. Ms. Todd will describe NHPCO's new public engagement efforts, as well as her own hospice's experiences in increasing public awareness of care at the end of life.
Richard Rosenquist, M.D., Member, Veterans Administration National Pain Management Strategy Committee; Director, Pain Medicine Division and Associate Professor, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. Dr. Rosenquist will discuss the Veterans Administration's wide-ranging educational effort to improve palliative care.
Linda Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D., Principal, Education for Physicians on End-of-Life Care project; Professor of Medicine, Northwestern University; Chicago, Ill.