Presented by the Center for Hospice, Palliative Care and End of Life Studies and the Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging, The Enhancing Care and Communication at the End of Life: Best Practices in Advance Care Planning Conference took place last Friday in the USF Embassy Suites Hotel. The conference included sessions on the importance of values and preferences in planning for end-of-life care, capacity evaluations and pitfalls of advance care planning in different health care settings, and more. The event also served as a combined health care jobs fair and conference and offered 5.5 Continuing Education Units to attendees.
Conference organizers Debra Dobbs, PhD; Lindsay Peterson, PhD; and Sara Hackett, PhD take a group photo with the conference planning committee, presenters, and School of Aging Studies faculty members.
Session leaders and panelists were representatives of the USF School of Aging Studies, USF School of Social Work, USF Judy Genshaft Honors College, Empath Health, Chapters Health System, and Spring Hill United Church of Christ.
The conference was also a tribute to the late Kathryn Hyer, PhD, a professor and associate director in the School of Aging Studies, director of the Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging, and former president of the Gerontological Society of America, the largest organization centered around the study of aging in the world. Her work was defined by passion and commitment to bettering the lives of older adults, especially vulnerable older adults.