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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Metropolitan Jewish Hospice hosted a Diversity and End-of-Life Care teleconference at Menorah Home and Hospital in Manhattan Beach.

The free event was part of the Hospice Foundation of America’s 16th annual Living With Grief conference, a national seminar that aids caregivers in developing better strategies for helping family members and patients cope with a chronic or life-limiting illness.

Delivered live via webcast from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., the seminar discussed diversity at three stages — end-of-life care, time of death, and bereavement.

The panel discussed hospice care as it applies to ethnic, veteran, and homosexual patients.

Sandy Chen Stokes, RN, PHN, MSN, founder and executive director of the Chinese American Coalition for Compassionate Care, and Wanda Henry-Jenkins, RN, MHS, manager of bereavement Services at VITAS Innovative Hospice Program, spoke of the importance of knowing each patient.

Noting different cultures vary in their approach to death and dying, caregivers must be as informed as possible about each patient’s traditions, values, and rituals.

“Information and education can reduce a lot of stress and anxiety from the beginning,” Henry-Jenkins says.

After the broadcast, a local panel moderated by Ruth K. V. Recchia, RN, CHPN, Metropolitan Jewish hospice admissions director and a clinical consultant, addressed questions. “We offered this program to show that we strongly believe in the importance of diversity in end-of-life care,” Recchia says. “We acknowledge it and respect it.”

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Tracey Boyd is a regional reporter. To comment, e-mail editorNY@nursingspectrum.com.

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