Whole Person Conference
Whole Person Conference Launch at Christ Cathedral
On October 25th, the Orange County Right at Home owners consisting of Vernon Atwood, Kevin Karkut, Greg James, Keith Wong, and Dan Boyle participated in the Whole Person Conference sponsored by Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA. Christ Cathedral is the former Crystal Cathedral founded by Robert Schuller in 1980 in what was once a drive-in theatre. In fact, the raised asphalt bumps for the drive-in still exist in the parking lot as a memorial to the start of his ministries. In the last 5 years, the Catholic Church acquired the campus and renamed it Christ Cathedral.
The Whole Person Care Initiative is a comprehensive approach to caring for the sick and dying spearheaded by Catholic Health Systems and the California Catholic Conference of Bishops, community healthcare providers, and public health leaders. This effort seeks to remake how our healthcare system addresses death and dying and lays out a vision for a network of care that addresses both the physical and spiritual dimensions of care. The Whole Person Care Initiative has a presence throughout much of the country. This launch in Orange County was the first in the state. Irvine Cottages was a major sponsor and we were proud to be able to participate as a Gold Sponsor.
This day-long summit was open to professional care providers, community health leaders, parish volunteers, and clergy. Speakers included Ira Byock, MD, Megory Anderson, PhD. and Most Rev. Kevin Vann, Bishop of Orange.
The sessions included insightful and engaging topics including:
- "Clinical Leadership in Tubulent Times by Dr. Ira Byock, MD
- "Walking Each Other Home: Empowering Laity at End-of-Life by Megory Anderson, PhD.
- Companioning the Long Suffering - Palliative Care for the Soul by Sister Eileen McNerney, CSJ
- A Catholic Perspective on End of Life Care by Dr. Vincent Nguyen, D.O., Mark Jablonski
- A screening of the documentary "Endgame" followed by a panel discussion facilitated by Patty Mouton from Alzheimer's Orange County
- Here are some of the ideas presented.
The information was valuable in understanding the needs for those going through and caring for those that are sick and dying. The reason that we attend these conferences is to continue to look at the topics and issues affecting our clients and industry. Also, we believe in the "Whole" person approach as
“Ultimately, the secret of quality is love. You have to love your patient, love your profession, you have to love your God. If you have love, you can work backward to monitor and improve the system”. Dr. Avedis Donabedian
