In an exciting first for Compassion & Choices, we were invited to present at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) Annual Leadership Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas. Our session, DEI in Hospice: Transformational, Not Transactional, not only garnered significant praise from attendees, it was one of the few sessions chosen by NHPCO to also be included in the virtual component of the three-day event.
The session was created and presented by National Director of Clinical Engagement Jessica Empeño; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisor and State Director Donna Smith; and Director of Priority Populations Zeena Regis. Both Empeño and Regis have prior experience as hospice professionals and recognized a need to address the cultural competency piece.
“Hospice is wonderful, and I loved my time in that field, but it can be a little behind the times when it comes to DEI efforts,” says Regis. “I think because people are at the end of life, a lot of very well-intentioned hospice professionals skip all the cultural work, feeling like they just need to be there and care, and that’s all that really matters because this person is about to die. So a lot of what we discussed was about holding ourselves to a higher standard and realizing that even though we are providing great care, we need to be continually learning and doing the actual hard work of being culturally sensitive. And people really seemed to get it — we heard so much great feedback.”
Another positive outcome from the event was having an opportunity to educate attendees on the broader nature of Compassion & Choices’ work. Regis explains, “Some of the folks there really only knew C&C from our medical aid-in-dying approach, not the full breadth of our mission. So that was also amazing, to be able to talk to people about all that we do and how we want to work in concert with hospice and not in contrast, that we are big fans of hospice care. Really explaining that was helpful for people and for the movement.”
Compassion & Choices
Media Contacts
Michael Cavaiola
National Director of Marketing & Communications
[email protected]
Phone: (480) 622 4427
Patricia A. González-Portillo
Senior National Latino Media Director
[email protected]
(323) 819 0310
Mail contributions directly to:
Compassion & Choices Gift Processing Center
PO Box 485
Etna, NH 03750
