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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and the Hospice Conference of Southern Illinois will present the 38^th annual hospice conference virtually from 8 a.m.-noon Thursday, Nov. 12 with a focus on “The New Normal in Hospice Care.”

At the live, virtual conference, participants will meet other professionals, volunteers and community members who work with or have an interest in learning about chronically ill, terminally ill or grieving persons of all ages in hospitals, hospices, long-term care and skilled nursing facilities, and those who are receiving home healthcare.

 Additionally, participants will discuss the difficulties of providing end of life care in the current climate of social distancing and virus precautions, examine some of the healthcare disparities faced by people of color, and consider how we can improve care to the underserved and to hospice patients having difficulty accessing appropriate care in the COVID-19 era.

Participants will be engaged with presentations from experienced and innovative experts, including:

• David Gill, MD, of VITAS Hospice
• Chris Herndon, PharmD, CPE, FASHP, professor in the SIUE School of Pharmacy
• Harsh Moolani, founder of the non-profit Create Circles

Gill, of Niles, is board certified in family medicine, and has practiced emergency medicine in central Illinois for 20 years. He has also worked as the associate medical director of Vitas Healthcare, a hospice in Fairview Heights, for the past 15 months. He previously served as the assistant director of the Illinois Department of Public Health from 2013-14. Gill has been a member of the Physicians for National Health Program for nearly 30 years, and he is a longtime member of Physicians for Reproductive Health, the ACLU and the NAACP.

Herndon sees chronic pain patients in a multidisciplinary setting within a family medicine residency clinic. His scholarship focuses primarily on pain and palliative care education. He is principal investigator for the National Institutes of Health Center of Excellence in Pain Education at SIUE. Herndon is president-elect for the Society of Palliative Care Pharmacists. 

Among his top accolades, Herndon is the 2018 recipient of the Distinguished Services Award from the American Pain Society, the Illinois Pharmacist’s Association’s 2016 Pharmacist of the Year, the 2012 recipient of the Academic Pain Educator of the Year Award from the American Society of Pain Educators, and the recipient of the Alliance of State Pain Initiatives’ 2006 Pain Champion Award. 

Moolani is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis where he studied neuroscience. His hospice volunteer experience led him to pursue gerontology as a primary focus, with an emphasis on the development of programming to alleviate isolation and loneliness at the end of life.

Moolani’s deep fascination with the psychosocial challenges of aging and human connection urged him to start a 501(c)(3) non-profit called Create Circles with the goal of tackling older adult loneliness. The negative stereotypes of aging also correspond with greater physical and cognitive decline, as well as increased mortality rates. By interacting with and encouraging the principles of positive aging with the elderly population, Create Circles volunteers play a substantial role in supporting and encouraging their corresponding older adults. Due to current limitations on interaction, cognitive decay is rapid and mental health concerns are skyrocketing. Create Circles has launched a Virtual Visitation platform with a simplified and streamlined process for volunteering to promote as many conversations as possible to support older adults.

The hospice conference is open to the public. Registration fees of $20 or $40 include four professional continuing education units (CEU). To register, visit http://ow.ly/T23G50BJSxj. For more information regarding registration, contact Cynthia Cobetto in the SIUE Office of Online and Education Outreach at cgorsag@siue.edu or 618-650-2164.

Photo: Hospice Conference of Southwestern Illinois logo.