Oct. 10, 2014 | Teaching sessions from pain and symptom management to end of life care drew 175 hospice and palliative care professionals Oct. 2-3 to the third annual Partners in Care Conference, organized in part by UAMS.

“The conference exceeded expectations this year,” said Sarah Harrington, M.D., medical director of the UAMS Palliative Care Program and one of the conference leaders.

“We had attendees from all across the state and from out of state. It was a great opportunity to represent UAMS and teach physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and others how to improve care for patients and their families. We hope to be able to provide this kind of outreach every year,” she said.

In addition to UAMS, conference providers also included Hospice & Palliative Care Association of Arkansas and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.

Former hospice social worker and now motivational speaker and author Ron Culberson presented the keynote address Oct. 2 on managing stress and changing a personal perspective to see the humor in life.

Culberson is the author of “Do It Well. Make It Fun: The Key to Success in Life, Death and Almost Everything in Between.”

Keith Swetz, M.D., gave the keynote address Oct. 3 about the hospice and palliative care role in heart failure, including symptom management strategies, recommendations for an annual review of advance care planning and care goals in cases of advanced heart failure.

Swetz is an associate professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and completed a hospice and palliative medicine fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.

He also spoke Oct. 2 to students and faculty during Internal Medicine Grand Rounds at UAMS.

Harrington led sessions on cancer pain management, substance abuse at the end of life, and palliative care program development. Other sessions addressed the subjects of grief, medical ethics, dementia caregiving at the end of life and generational differences in health care.