Social Work Experts in Palliative Care
Save the Date for the 2014 SWHPN General Assembly in San Diego
Dear colleagues,
Remember to save the date for the 2014 SWHPN General Assembly in San Diego, on March 10-12. The responses from the evaluation of the New Orlean’s 2013 General Assembly (about 50% of participants completed the evaluation, a great response our experts say) were overwhelmingly positive. Of course there were also suggestions for improvement that we are incorporating in the plans for next year.
Participant evaluations from the 2013 SWHPN General Assembly demonstrate the success of the conference:
- 68% of participants received financial support from their institutions to attend the conference
- 23% of participants also attended the AAHPM/HPNA Annual Assemblies later that week
- 95.5% would recommend this conference to others
- 100% were satisfied with the overall value of the conference
- 98% were satisfied with the printed conference program
- 99% were satisfied with the general organization and flow of the conference
- 98% were pleased with the amount and quality of information presented
- 99% felt the content of the conference was relevant to their work
- 80% of participants in the SWHPN Mentorship Program said their mentoring match met their needs and interests
- 91% of mentors and mentees plan to stay connected, and 55% have had contact since the conference.
Plenaries were highly evaluated as was the overall variety and quality of breakouts.
Some representative comments about what participants liked most about the General Assembly included the following:
The information presented was very motivational…the memory stick provided with all information/ presentations from the conference was a huge bonus! We will be able to share the information with members of our staff for years to come.
Being with other people who do what I do!!! Like many of us in this field, I am the only social worker on my team.
Hearing how other hospitals/programs/social workers dealt with similar barriers. I also appreciated the “theme” of empowering social workers to become leaders. Many organizational structures are not set up for the advancement of social workers, and since we are a “grass roots” profession, we don’t typically carve our own path.
Enhancing my role by learning from others!
Being with others who do the same work and learning how they do their jobs.
Having hospice and palliative care social workers all together focused on our specific work. I think it is a great leap forward and much needed
Networking, and opportunity to hear what others have implemented
This was the first conference where I had sessions related to my position as a Palliative Care Social Worker on an in pt palliative care consult team in a tertiary/acute hospital. I was able to return from this conference and share information that related to the type of care our team provides.
Finally a chance to meet nationally with colleagues in H&PC!
250 social workers in hospice and palliative care together! lots of power. At times I feel alone on my team and thus being with other social workers really revitalized me.
Being among so many brilliant and knowledgeable people in MY specialty. A feeling of empowerment in an under-appreciated field.
I returned to work motivated, energized and eager to do more great work.
Loved being there, and learned so much!