Bereavement Service Manager, Vitas Healthcare
Registration:
Webinar Reminders:
Price:
Continuing Education:
Summary:
Enhancing the relationship between hospice and funeral home allows greater opportunity to serve the families of our shared communities with more compassion. It creates greater cohesion and provides a platform for utmost professionalism. While hospice and the funeral home are both businesses that serve families, the operative word is “serve” and when the relationships are strong, the families are “served” with optimal care.
The goal of this presentation is to educate about effective communication skills coupled with situational awareness to serve diverse constituencies by both hospice and the funeral home.
Objectives:
Presenter:
L. Mark Hensley, MTS, D.Min. PT-CSp.
Bereavement Service Manager, Vitas Healthcare
Dr. L. Mark Hensley is Bereavement Service Manager at VITAS Healthcare and Board Member with the Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio. He draws upon many different streams of experience and training in his work as Bereavement Service Manager as well as having been ordained twice. First, he is ordinated with American Baptist Churches USA where he recognized the call to Health Chaplain. Secondly, he is ordained through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Word and Sacrament as Pastor. Third, his immersion in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) and his clinical training and practice as a hospice chaplain is core to his spiritual care identity and work. These three streams converge as Grief Counselor, accredited through the American Academy of Grief Counseling with a specialty in Pastoral Thanatology.
Hensley holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Communication from The Ohio State University, a Masters of Theological Studies degree from Methodist Theological School and a Doctoral degree from United Theological Seminary. The continuum of his academic interest to the work setting remains focused on the interface of local government services as well as the utility of philanthropy, as to how they both affect families in order to make ends meet. Hensley was also a Battalion Chaplain in the Ohio Army National Guard; as a result, the military provided a wealth of experiences interfacing with a variety of service related institutions.
Since 2012, he has worked intensively with Funeral Home Directors in patient’s homes, through multiple hospital departments, even in a variety of community settings such as nursing homes and assisted living. The common thread for his work will always be to advocate for patient dignity as well as the opportunity for an entrée of health professionals to assist in the process of decedent care for patients, families and our military service members. As a result, Hensley has made meaningful work alongside administrators, lawyers, physicians, nurses, social workers and aides, with an eye on a holistic conclusion to serve in memory of the deceased. Hensley loves to read, write, listen to music and ride his bike when time permits.