Springtime in upstate New York brings us together for HPCANYS 29th Annual Interdisciplinary Meeting and Conference. Once again, our program is designed to provide opportunities for networking, education, and thoughtful discussion about end-of-life care.

I am delighted to welcome Gary Gardia, MEd, LCSW, as our keynote speaker. Gary has worked in the hospice field for over 25 years beginning as a volunteer. Over the years he has worked in many capacities such as program director for volunteers, social workers, bereavement, and education. He is a Certified Thanatologist (CT): Death, Dying and Bereavement through the Association for Death, Education and Counseling and holds a Master Degrees in Education and Social Work. In 1996 Gary has been honored with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization's (NHPCO) "Heart of Hospice Award" for developing innovative programs to meet the needs of caregivers and the bereaved. For the past 7 years he has served in various leadership positions for NHPCO including the national representative for Volunteers and Volunteer Managers and the national representative for Social Workers. In 2002 Gary opened the Center for Compassionate Care in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Friday morning's plenary speaker Dr. William Breitbart, is a psychiatrist whose expertise focuses on the psychiatric aspects of pain, symptom control, and palliative care in cancer and AIDS patients. Much of his early research focused on the neuropsychiatric problems of HIV-infected patients, including pain, fatigue, delirium and other symptoms that impact quality of life. As Dr. Breitbart's clinical experiences brought more and more attention to the terminally ill patients' desire for hastened death, he became interested in studying the psychological and psychosocial factors associated with this desire for death among the terminally ill population. Breitbart and his colleagues began to reframe the concept of despair at the end of life, expanding the concerns of palliative and supportive care beyond symptom management. In addition to constructs such as depression and anxiety, they found that factors such as hopelessness, loss of meaning, and decreased spiritual well-being contributed greatly to the dying patients' sense suffering. Dr. Breitbart's most recent research efforts involve the development of novel psychotherapeutic interventions, which he has named "Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy", aimed at sustaining meaning and improving spiritual well-being in the terminally ill.

This year, we are offering twenty-nine workshops covering topics such as pain and symptom management in hospice and palliative care, the challenges of underserved populations, and getting the best from your interdisciplinary team. Our Annual Meeting Committee has worked hard to ensure that there is something for everyone.

Exhibitors from across the country will be on hand to discuss their products and services. Join us for hors d'oeuvres at the close of Thursday's concurrent session and our Exhibitors' Cocktail reception. Another opportunity to meet and network with the exhibitors is offered again at breakfast on Friday morning.

You will meet the HPCANYS staff who will be present to answer questions, provide directions and attend to all of your conference needs.

We look forward to seeing you May 28 and 29, 2009 at the Saratoga Hilton for our 29th Annual Interdisciplinary Seminar and Meeting, "Embracing Change...Transforming the Future"

Kathy A. McMahon, President & CEO