Hospice of Southern Maine is excited to welcome America’s most visible death doula Alua Arthur and New York Times bestselling author and hospice nurse Hadley Vlahos as keynote speakers at its upcoming Thresholds Conference. The conference will be held in person with a virtual option on Tuesday, May 7 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the University of Southern Maine’s Hannaford Hall in Portland.
An annual conference that unites families, friends, healthcare professionals, caregivers, and the community in meaningful conversations about end-of-life care, this year’s topic is Graceful Endings: Navigating Caregiving, Death, and Grief. In addition to keynote speaker presentations, a panel of experts will discuss and model early conversations about end-of-life wishes; how to talk with someone who is dying; and what to say to someone who has experienced a loss.
Arthur is a death doula, recovering attorney, and the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization that exists to support people as they answer the question, “What must I do to be at peace with myself so that I may live presently and die gracefully?” Going with Grace works to improve and redefine the end-of-life experience for people rooted in every community using the individual lived experience as the foundation.
Arthur was a keynote speaker at EndWell 2019 and has been featured in media outlets including Vogue, InStyle, the Los Angeles Times, The Cut, The New Yorker, and the New York Times.
Vlahos has worked as an at-home hospice nurse for nearly 10 years, a job that many think is too tough, too sad, and filled with too much devastation. But for Vlahos, working in palliative care is something she feels lucky to do. She started documenting her experiences as a hospice nurse and stories of her patients on TikTok and reaches millions of viewers as “Nurse Hadley.”
In her memoir “The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life’s Final Moments”, Vlahos shares new stories of the most impactful experiences she has had with her patients – from the woman who never once questioned her faith until she was close to death, to the older man seeing visions of his late daughter, to the young patient who laments that she spent too much of her short life worrying about what others thought of her.
“Every year, we encourage people to join us for Thresholds for open, honest conversations about end of life,” said Daryl Cady, CEO of Hospice of Southern Maine. “We consistently hear how meaningful these conversations are to so many people, and we’re excited to welcome these speakers to share their stories with attendees and contribute to continued dialogue surrounding death.”
In-person and virtual tickets for the event are available for $35. For more information about the Thresholds Conference and to register for the event, please visit thresholdshsm.org .
The Rev. Anne L. Hunter, M.D. Memorial Thresholds Conference is an annual community conference on end of life. It is designed to provide the public, healthcare professionals, and caregivers the knowledge and tools we need to understand hospice care and end of life. Now in its 13th year, Thresholds brings people together for honest conversations about end of life.
Hospice of Southern Maine is a non-profit organization with the mission to provide compassion, care, and comfort through end of life. Formed through a collaborative effort among York and Cumberland County leaders and health care providers, Hospice of Southern Maine organized in 2001 and began providing direct patient services in 2004. Today, HSM cares for nearly 2,000 patients annually, at the patient’s home, current care facility, and Gosnell Memorial Hospice House, an 18-suite inpatient facility in Scarborough. HSM admits patients with a variety of diagnoses, including Alzheimer’s; heart, lung, and kidney diseases; stroke; Lou Gehrig’s disease; and cancer. Care is patient-centered with family support and provided by a comprehensive interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, aides, chaplains, grief counselors, and volunteers. Hospice of Southern Maine is a non-profit 501(c)3, Medicare certified state licensed agency, and the largest independent provider of hospice services in Southern Maine. To learn more, visit http://www.hospiceofsouthernmaine.org .
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