2018 Plenary Speakers

The He(art) and Science of Collaboration
Have you ever wondered what makes for a great collaboration? Is it possible to design and reproduce? Coming together requires, by definition, a joining. Sometimes, perhaps even often, we find ourselves in need of collaborating with unfamiliar partners. You’re invited to discover how art and science can converge to magically join hearts and minds, body and soul, empowering you to reach beyond your goals and into your wildest dreams.

Dawn M. Gross, MD, PhD, is dedicated to transforming the taboo around talking about death. Following her father’s death, she began her practice as a hospice physician, joining the palliative care staff at UCSF where she had completed her post-doctoral research. A story-teller at heart, her writing has appeared in several anthologies and peer-reviewed publications, including JAMA. In 2016, she became the host of a live, call-in radio program, Dying To Talk, the first of its kind. She inspires us to stay in perpetual discovery of what is uniquely essential to us, to talk about it with the people we love, and to relentlessly pursue a healthcare system that is equally interested and curious to discover what these things are, ensuring the care that matters is the only care delivered.

Chaplains in the 21st Century: Implication for Leadership in the Face of Difference
Diversity is a concern when providing care.  It should be viewed as having multiple dimensions, e.g., race, faith, class and gender, and it should be understood in its specific context. Attendees will be invited to share ways of viewing diversity from their specific part of the world, including techniques for identifying and interrupting unconscious bias.  They will explore and use rationale for diversity and inclusion as well as cultural competence.  Further, they will investigate approaches for inspiring others. An important outcome is that we learn to value diversity yet seek common ground when attending to spiritual health in the provision of health services. Attendees will conclude the discussion by sharing strategies for ongoing development.

James L. Mason, PhD, is the Chief Diversity Officer for Providence Health & Services in Oregon. He is the former Director of the Office of Multicultural Health for the State of Oregon and co-founded the National Association of State Offices of Minority Health. As a consultant for the Georgetown University Child Development Center, Dr. Mason collaborated in developing a model for assessing cultural competence. He has consulted on matters of work force diversity and the delivery of cultural competence throughout North and Latin America. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Portland State University and currently resides in Portland, Oregon.

Sponsored by the Catholic Health Association of the United States

Saturday, July 14, 2018 at 12:00 p.m. ~ Revd. Dr. Steve Nolan

Lifting the Lid on Chaplaincy: A First Look at Findings from Chaplains’ Case Study Research
Healthcare colleagues have described our work as chaplains as something of a mystery. Colleagues see us go to be with a patient, and they see the difference we make, but what we do with them and what happens while we’re there is largely unknown. This review of the current state of chaplains’ case study research will be a first chance to lift the lid on chaplain colleagues’ accounts of their spiritual care, and to learn directly from them about the difference they make. We may find a few surprizes!

Steve Nolan, PhD, is an accredited integrative counselor and psychotherapist with the
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, an accredited minister with the Baptist Union of Great Britain and a Board Registered Chaplain through the United Kingdom Board of Healthcare Chaplains. He currently holds a Visiting Research Fellowship at The University of Winchester, UK, and has taught in the Cardiff Centre for Chaplaincy Studies, St Michael’s College in Wales. He serves as a chaplain at Princess Alice Hospice in Esher, Surrey, England. He is a prolific writer and researcher and has published in numerous peer-reviewed academic journals. His most recent book, Spiritual Care in Practice: Case Studies in Healthcare Chaplaincy, was co-edited with George Fitchett, PhD. Volume Two of this work is due out in 2018.

The Rev. Richard Tessmer Leadership Lecture honors the memory of Dick Tessmer, longtime chaplain, supervisor, and pillar of the NACC. The lecture is sponsored by AMITA Health, a faith-based health system created by the Alexian Brothers Health System and Adventist Midwest Health.

The Healing Profession
The changing healthcare environment reveals an increasing importance for a high degree of professionalism for chaplains.  From her role as a national leader in addressing patient experience, Dr. Boissy will challenge attendees to become more articulate and assertive about their roles in the areas of addressing pain and anxiety, partnering for end-of-life discussions, redefining hope under difficult circumstances, and caring for other caregivers. During this plenary, she will share what healthcare leaders are looking for in order to promote chaplains to have a respected place on the healthcare team when budgets are limited, patient needs are acute, and caregiver burnout is always looming. Dr. Boissy will encourage attendees to develop strategic, data-driven metrics that capture how the professional chaplain enhances the patient experience in the institutions served.

Adrienne Boissy, MD, MA, is a staff neurologist in the Cleveland Clinic Health System where she became the Chief Experience Officer in 2015. She previously served as Medical Director of the Center of Excellence in Healthcare Communication, an experience captured in her book Communication the Cleveland Clinic Way: How to Drive a Relationship-Centered Strategy for Superior Patient Experience. Dr. Boissy chairs the Empathy and Innovation Summit, the largest independent summit on patient experience in the world. She currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Patient Experience, was awarded an Arnold P. Gold Foundation grant for humanism in medicine, and is a Harvard Macy Scholar. She cares deeply about the human experience as embodied in her TEDx talk “Seeing and Being Seen: A Call for Healing.”