July 27, 28, 29, 30, 2019 from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM
CAIPA 136-33 37th Avenue, Suite 2D, Flushing, NY 11354
The Chinese American Coalition for Compassionate Care (CACCC) is the first non-profit coalition in the United States devoted to promoting end-of-life services in the Chinese community. It provides year-round community education and outreach for Chinese Americans and the healthcare professionals who serve them. Founder Sandy Chen Stokes said, “Hospice and palliative care has been promoted in the U.S. since 1971, but the Chinese community has missed out on the resources and services provided by the government and insurance due to traditional culture and misunderstanding of ‘hospice and palliative care’. Therefore, since 2005, CACCC has been organizing Forums on Compassionate Care to encourage the Chinese community to participate in Advance Care Planning and Decision Making, and Heart-to-Heart Cafés to guide the Chinese community in exploring end-of-life issues. This is CACCC’s sixth 30-hour Hospice and Palliative Care Volunteer Training since 2011.
Dr. George Liu, founder, chief executive officer, and president of the Coalition of Asian-American IPA (CAIPA), with over 25 years of experience in the Greater New York area, has led CAIPA in organizing a network of community physicians for the Asian-American community, providing outstanding health care teams to serve the public, and providing a wide range of healthcare professionals who work together to serve the population at large. Its vision is to be a leader in providing quality, affordable health care to meet the challenges of Asian American health disparities in the New York metropolitan area; its mission is to provide high-quality, affordable, accessible, and sustainable healthcare services that enhance the interests of stakeholders in the public and private sectors.
In 2018, CACCC was invited to hold a Heart to Heart Café Facilitator Training for over twenty volunteers in New York. After more than six months of community outreach including conducting Cafés in cooperation with CACCC partner organizations, it became clear that New York needed more trained hospice and palliative care volunteers; many healthcare organizations were looking for more professional volunteers in the Chinese community. The goal of this training is to “increase the number of Chinese-speaking hospice and palliative care volunteers joining healthcare organizations in order to provide better quality end-of-life services to the Chinese community”. The training, supported by hospitals and hospices in NY, will prepare Chinese hospice & palliative care volunteers to help these agencies serve more Chinese patients and their families. Volunteers who have completed the training will become volunteers at these agencies. The four-day program has already secured the support of several healthcare, faith-based and community organizations in New York State, and is accepting graduating volunteers to join the Coalition as volunteers.
Three of the most popular topics will be offered as part of the training curriculum: Hospice Companionship and Spiritual Care/Communication, Grief and Bereavement Counseling, and Heart-to-Heart Café Facilitator Training. Chinese Americans can use the Heart-to-Heart Café program to start the conversation about end of life with Heart-to-Heart Cards. Other programs include: Medical Ethics, Communication Skills, Pain and Symptom Management, Hospice and Palliative Care, Volunteer Roles and Self-Care. Volunteers who are already serving in charitable and religious organizations, medical professionals, or those who are interested in joining CACCC as volunteers are encouraged to attend.
CACCC Hospice & Palliative Care Volunteer Training News Release