Virginia Care Uninsured Program (VCUP)

Hospice Foundation of America (HFA), http://www.hospicefoundation.org, is currently working on a CMS-funded project, the Hospice Outreach and Education Project, which seeks to raise awareness and knowledge of hospice care, including the Medicare and Medicaid hospice benefit. Aimed at the general population and also at groups that traditionally have low access rates to hospice care, as well as professionals who work in settings that may include end-of-life scenarios, the project provides collateral materials, webinars, and videos available on the Internet and on CD and DVD. Information on hospice and other aspects of end-of-life care and care giving is available through the project in English, Spanish and Chinese, the three most widely spoken languages in the U.S. The webinar portions of the project provide free continuing education to health and social service professionals. The materials, many of which are now available online at HFA's Hospice Information Center, will be distributed widely to hospice providers, healthcare providers and facilities, advocacy groups, libraries, associations and disease-specific organizations, as well as employee assistance programs. One additional aspect of the project includes Ask HFA, a phone and email resource that serves as a clearinghouse of information on hospice and end-of-life care. Qualified professionals, including a registered nurse, social worker, grief expert and program officer, provide information and support. Ask HFA receives emails and phone calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week (and responds within 24 hours, if not immediately to more pressing communications), from persons and professionals who ask questions or share their stories or concerns and have feedback provided by one of our experts experienced in hospice medical, emotional and spiritual care and support. Ask HFA receives an average of 70 communications each week. The website includes easy to access areas for consumers, including "Read and Share Resources" and "Educate Yourself and Others," which contain printable fact sheets on a wide range of topics related to hospice care, grief and bereavement, care giving and disease specific considerations when accessing end-of-life care. Some of these resources are available in Spanish and Chinese. The first of the webcast/video programs, "Understanding Hospice," was completed and posted on the Hospice Information Center portion of HFA's website at the end of summer. A Spanish-language version of that program was written, shot and produced separately, featuring a native Spanish-speaker and Spanish-language text in the graphics; it is in the process of being closed captioned. The next program was a first in end-of-life education: a Chinese-language video tutorial on hospice care aimed at the Chinese-American communities across the United States. It was debuted in November at a news conference in San Jose, CA, and received much attention both in local and national Chinese-language media; requests for the DVD program came to HFA almost immediately after the news conference. The program, "Understanding Grief," which features insights from Maria Shriver, current First Lady of California, is in the process of adding closed-captioning and will become available on the Hospice Information Center portion of HFAs website, as well as on DVD, by late December. A high definition public service announcement recorded at the same time is being distributed at no charge for use online (mostly hospice websites) and for use on broadcast television. The Spanish-language version of "Understanding Grief" was written, shot and is being produced as a separate program with Spanish language graphics and presented by a native-Spanish speaker; it will be completed by the end of the year. The program intended to inspire and motivate people to volunteer at their local hospice, "Time to Help Others," features several current hospice volunteers from around the country. It is expected to be available online and on DVD by year's end. Programs on how hospice is paid for (the Medicare Hospice Benefit), quality care, and serving under-served populations, are in various stages of production, and will be available early in 2011. HFA also has developed a series of easily accessible webinar programs that are useful to professionals and the public. Professionals can earn one hour of continuing education at no charge after viewing and taking a quiz on the webinar material. Certificates can be printed by the webinar attendee. Webinars now available through the Hospice Information Center include: Understanding Hospice, Understanding Grief, and Coping with Cancer at the End of Life, Family Caregiving and EOL Challenges in the LGBT Community. Five additional webinars will be completed by the end of January, including Hospice Care in Rural America, and Veterans and End-of-Life Care.