Shepherd University will host the fifth annual Aging Well Workshop, “We Have to Talk: Conversations About End-of-Life Issues,” Friday, May 10 at the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Dr. Amjad Riar is the keynote speaker. He will define palliative and end-of-life care and their impacts on patients and families and describe ways to address pain management with patients and families within three domains–physical, psychosocial and spiritual. He is a board-certified physician in internal medicine and palliative medicine. For nearly seven years he has been providing expert symptom management and goals-of-care discussions to patients living with serious illness and their families. He is the author of pain management in seriously ill patients in “Hospice Companion,” a widely utilized resource guide in the field of hospice worldwide to treat the symptoms related to serious illness.

Bonnie Parker, the plenary speaker, will discuss health literacy and distinguish it from patient education. She is a registered nurse with more than 30 years experience in neurological rehabilitation, school nursing and psychiatric nursing, is pursuing a doctorate of nursing practice degree, and is an assistant professor of nursing education at Shepherd.

Other topics will include “‘I’ve got my bags packed and I’m ready to go’-Psychotherapy with Older Adults,” “Elder Mediation and Conflict Coaching: Assisting Courageous Conversations” and “Last Words: What to Say, How to Say It, and When?”

Presenters are Catherine Duray Baker, a social work care manager at Meritus Medical Center who provides clinical coverage to the Critical Care Unit and adjunct professor of socialwork at Shepherd; Susan K. Lyons, an acute care nurse practitioner at Meritus currently working in palliative care; Susi Lynch, a private psychotherapist and clinical social worker; Susan Miller, a social worker who is seeing more elderly patients in her private practice; and Carolyn Rodis, a mediator, teacher, trainer, and conflict coach whose training focus is in elder mediation, issues around aging and mediation skills.

The workshop is funded by the West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services in collaboration with the nursing education and social work programs at Shepherd.

Participants must register by May 3 and all members of the community are welcome. The registration form is available at www.shepherd.edu/swweb. Workshop fees are $40 for CEUs and $10without.

For more information, contact Geri Crawley-Woods at 304-876-5337 or Christina Wolfe at 304-876-5268.