BY: DAVID WARREN, PhD
When I assumed the role of CHAusa editor for the Catholic Health Association in February, the association's website — CHAusa — already presented to members a content-rich feast of resources, including daily healthcare news and other public policy tools; directories of Catholic-sponsored healthcare providers, advocacy networks, ethicists, and ethics centers; current and back issues of Catholic Health World, Health Progress, Washington Update, and Health Policy Issue Brief; CHA news releases; the entire resource catalog; listings of employment opportunities for healthcare executives; centralized access to information on healthcare ethics, spiritual care, and mission-based leadership development; CHA policy and position statements, and documents from other sources; a calendar, complete with links to brochures, listing meetings held by CHA and other organizations; information on sponsorship, the continuum of care, and New Covenant; and links to government, health, and religious websites.
Since February, CHAusa has continued to gain more visitors and more registered users, and to expand its offerings. The 1998 Catholic Health Assembly was the first assembly to have its program posted on the website. Participants were able to register for the annual event securely on the Internet. More far-reaching has been the continued expansion of the content and capabilities offered by CHAusa.
Long-Term Care Expansion
The section of the website devoted to long-term care and aging services providers now delivers advocacy support and information; a catalog of CHA publications and other resources developed specifically for these practitioners; listings of meetings for LTC professionals, and links to related websites; examples of values-based programs for aging and chronically ill persons; and connection to the Health Care Financing Administration's Sharing Innovations in Quality (SIQ) project, a collaborative project designed to develop a repository of innovative ideas and practices in long-term care.
The long-term care section of the website allows CHA members to learn about the association's long-term care policy priorities and to understand the background and CHA policy objectives on such issues as Medicare, persons dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, the Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), and senior housing as part of the continuum of care. For example, the "Principles for Catholic-Sponsored Assisted Living and Senior Housing," developed jointly by Catholic Charities USA and CHA, have been posted on the website. This section of CHAusa also documents how the association is helping develop the Chronic Care Act to establish a national chronic care policy and streamline Medicare and Medicaid requirements for care of chronically ill persons
Mission Services Additions
The website's Mission Services area supplements the association's mission services activities. Earlier this year, CHA's Mission Services division sponsored two audio conferences in which Sr. Jean deBlois, CSJ, PhD, CHA's vice president of Mission Services, analyzed the criteria for the use of life-sustaining interventions for persons with life-threatening illness. Sr. deBlois, a registered nurse, subsequently used the website to answer questions from her audiences across the United States.
The work of Supportive Care of the Dying, a coalition of CHA and 11 Catholic healthcare systems to promote supportive care, compassionate relief of suffering, and pain and symptom management to persons with life-threatening illness, is also available in this area of the website. Here you can read the coalition's initial report, Living and Healing During Life-Threatening Illness, a needs assessment conducted through focus groups in 11 locations across the country. Also posted is "Hints for Conducting Focus Groups," a guide written by Sylvia A. McSkimming, PhD, to describe how Catholic healthcare organizations can re-create the focus group discussions used in the coalition's research project. CHAusa also provides instant access to current and back issues of Supportive Voice, the official newsletter of the coalition.
Public Policy Area
The public policy section of the website remains a must-have tool for many CHA members. Public policy advocates appreciate being able to save time and money by being able to quickly find on the website recent proposed legislation, regulations, and other documents important to Catholic healthcare, such as the Medicare PSO agreement, bills on managed care and patient protections, and CHA's response to HCFA on organ transplant rules.
CHA's website can be found at www.chausa.org. For more information, contact David Warren at 314-253-3464.
Mr. Warren is CHAusa editor, Catholic Health Association, St. Louis.