St. Francis is local host for national teleconference on diversity, death

INDIANAPOLIS – The St. Francis Palliative Medicine program will be the local host of a national teleconference focused on how diversity influences end-of-life decisions.

The Hospice Foundation of America’s 16th annual National Bereavement Teleconference “Diversity and End-of-Life Care is 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 29.

The program will be moderated by Frank Sesno, professor of media and public affairs at the George Washington University and a special correspondent with CNN. He will be joined by several medical experts, counselors, educators, and representatives from various cultural and faith-based organizations.

One of the goals of the teleconference is to examine the impact culture has at the time of death and bereavement.

Locally, the conference will be broadcast at the St. Francis Hospital auditorium, 1600 Albany St., Beech Grove.

To register or learn more about the conference, call Dawn Webb at 317-783-8930.

More information about the St. Francis Palliative Medicine program is at www.stfrancishospitals.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=322.

Death is a part of the life cycle, and it’s especially difficult for children to grasp and make sense out of it, particularly when they lose a loved one. And that’s why St. Francis Hospice offers Caterpillar Kids, a support program that offers learning experiences for children ages 5 to 12.

The program gets under way again Wednesday, April 8 and ending May 13. The workshops, which are free, are from 4:30 to 6 p.m. and continue each Wednesday.

Meetings are at Christ United Methodist Church, 8540 U.S. 31 South, one mile north of Greenwood Park Mall.

To register or for more information about Caterpillar Kids, call Karla Riggs Norton at 317-865-2092 or toll-free at 800-390-9915.