Presentation Description:

Many patients die in a manner they would not choose, leaving their loved ones feeling bereaved, guilty, and uncertain.  This presentation will help prepare healthcare providers and others to engage in difficult discussions regarding patient wishes about end-of-life care.  The presenters will examine ways to help people with serious illness think through and talk about end-of-life care in a meaningful way that values “What Matters” to the patient (i.e., their goals and preferences). What Matters is part of the Age-Friendly Health System initiative, which focuses on person-centered care by asking/identifying what matters to the patient in order to customize plans of care.  Part of this work is encouraging individuals, families, and health systems to have conversations about what matters in the context of end-of-life care.  A primary goal is to help healthcare organizations and clinicians build more reliable processes for advance care planning and provide respectful care at the end of life that is concordant with patients’ stated goals, values, and preferences.  Following the presentation, participants will be able to discuss the importance of having and continuing conversations about what matters to the patient regarding end-of-life care and will be able to identify methods to align what matters with regards to advance care planning with the other “4Ms,” Mentation, Medication, and Mobility.

Judith E. Hupcey Bio:

Dr. Hupcey is a Professor of Nursing and Medicine and the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing Associate Dean for Research & Innovation at the Pennsylvania State University.  She earned her Ed.D. and Ed.M. in Nursing Education, Adult Nurse Practitioner M.S., as well as her B.S. in Nursing from Columbia University.   Hupcey is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and has a number of other honors and awards to her name including receiving the Eastern Nursing Research Society Suzanne Feetham Nurse Scientist Family Research Award.  Throughout her career, Dr. Hupcey has served on numerous boards and committees and currently serves as the Chair for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Research Leadership Network. Her research interests include palliative and end-of-life care, family caregivers, heart failure, age-friendly heath care, and qualitative research.   Dr. Hupcey is a principal investigator on the HRSA-funded Age-Friendly Care, PA initiative, a collaborative of diverse professionals working together to improve the lives of older adults in PA, with special attention to older adults living in rural areas.

Lisa Kitko Bio:

Dr. Kitko is an Associate Professor of Nursing and the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing Associate Dean of Graduate Education at the Pennsylvania State University (PSU).  She earned her Ph.D. and M.S. in Nursing from PSU and her B.S.N from the University of Pittsburgh.  Kitko is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, is a past recipient of the PSU College of Nursing Janet A. Williamson Excellence in Teaching Award and has received various other distinctions and awards throughout her career.  She serves her profession on countless boards and committees including her current appointment as the Chair of the Eastern Nursing Research Society Awards Committee.  Dr. Kitko’s research interests include heart failure/mechanical circulatory support, family support/caregivers, and palliative care/end of life.  She’s currently the principal investigator on the NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-funded Improving Access to Research and Training (IMPACT) grant.