Caring for Whole Person conference offers help for those caring for seriously ill

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The good news: For the first time in decades, more Californians are dying at home. The bad news: More Californians are dying at home with their needs unmet.

With more of us caring for seriously ill loved ones at home rather than hospitals ? a trend last seen in the mid-1900s ? many lack emotional, physical, financial and spiritual support.

Archbishop of Los Angeles and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops José H. Gomez and renowned palliative care physician Ira Byock, M.D, will lead a free, public conference to show how we can better prepare to care for people with serious illness through the end of life.

The Caring for the Whole Person launch conference is 8:30 a.m. ? 4 p.m., Friday, Feb. 7 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 555 West Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Register here.

Caring for the Whole Person is a new statewide initiative of the California Bishops and Catholic healthcare systems that enable each parish to provide community support and resource referrals to families with loved ones who are suffering, ill or at the end of life.

This launch conference brings together community and educational resources to connect with parish leaders across the state. The conference is for priests, parish ministry leaders, ministers to the sick, deacons and the public.

"Seriously ill people and their families are vulnerable and deserve better support from both health care professionals and caring communities during these difficult times," said Dr. Byock, founder of the Institute for Human Caring at Providence St. Joseph Health based in Gardena, Calif.

Amid current unmet needs of seriously ill people and well-recognized barriers to high-quality palliative and hospice care, the Caring for the Whole Person initiative "offers an opportunity for us all to prepare the inevitability of our own deaths and live fully through the end of life," Dr. Byock said.

@PSJH @IraByock #WholePersonCare

About the Caring for the Whole Person:
Caring for the Whole Person is a new state-wide initiative of the CA Bishops and Catholic healthcare systems that enable each parish to provide community support, resource and referrals to families with loved ones who are suffering, ill or at the end of life. Visit https://www.scd.org/catholic-charities-and-social-concerns/whole-person-care-initiative

About the Institute for Human Caring at Providence St. Joseph Health:
The Institute for Human Caring at Providence St. Joseph Health is leading a transformation of health services to elevate whole person care to the new normal. We are raising expectations for health care that treats each of us as a whole person - eliciting and honoring our values, preferences and priorities. Visit https://www.instituteforhumancaring.org/

SOURCE Institute for Human Caring