NEWS

CHAPEL HILL -- A May 7 symposium will explore the difficult choices that must be made by individuals, their families and health-care providers when someone with an incurable illness approaches the end of life.

The UNC Hospitals Ethics Committee will host the first-ever Piedmont Ethics Symposium at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education.

The conference is sponsored by the UNC Hospitals Ethics Committee, UNC’s Center for Health Ethics and Policy and School of Nursing, and the Leslie Dawn Cook Fund.

The daylong program, "Best Interests: Palliative Care and End of Life Choices," will feature lectures and small group discussions on limitations of medical treatment, advance care planning, the family’s role in decision-making and religious perspectives surrounding end-of-life choices. Topics will include: "Evolution of a Palliative Care Service Using a Nurse-Based Model," which describes UNC Hospitals’ new pain and symptom care program; "Balancing Care and Cure," which focuses on both the promise and the realities of advance care planning; and "Religious Reasoning and End-of-Life Decisions."

The keynote address, "Unraveling the Wendland Case: Looking for a Peaceful Death in the Midst of a Squabbling Yet Loving Family," will be delivered by philosopher Dr. Rosemarie Tong, a distinguished professor of health care ethics at UNC-Charlotte. Other featured speakers include philosophers Dr. John Moskop, a professor of medical humanities and director of the Bioethics Center at East Carolina University; and Dr. Larry Churchill, a professor of social medicine and co-director of the Center for Health Ethics and Policy at the UNC School of Medicine.

In addition to lectures, members of the UNC Hospitals Ethics Committee, representing a broad range clinical and non-clinical fields, will engage attendees in case-based small group discussions.

The conference is designed to appeal to anyone interested in palliative care and end-of-life issues, including professionals and the general public. All levels of experience and expertise are welcome. Registration for the symposium is required, and the deadline is April 30. Enrollment will be limited to 100.

For more information, contact the School of Nursing’s continuing education department at (919) 966-3638 or dettmer@email.unc.edu.

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Note: Nancy King, co-chair of the UNC Hospitals Ethics Committee and conference planning committee chair, is available for media interviews. Contact her at (919) 843-8270 or nmpking@med.unc.edu.

News Services contact: Deb Saine at (919) 962-8415