The Hospice Foundation of America's seventh annual National Bereavement Teleconference, "Living with Grief: Children, Adolescents, and Loss," will be broadcast live-via-satellite on Wednesday, April 26, 2000, from 1:30pm to 4:00pm EDT.  

Registration of organizations hosting this video broadcast has begun with nearly 1,000 registered sites across North America. Last year, the teleconference was seen in more than 2,400 communities across the country, reaching an audience of 150,000.  

The teleconference will examine the ways that children and adolescents respond to loss and will offer practical advice that can be used to help children and adolescents develop useful coping skills.  

Moderated by Cokie Roberts of ABC News, this award winning program will feature a panel of distinguished experts: Nancy Boyd Webb, Charles Corr, Kenneth Doka, and Margarita Suarez.  

Support materials include HFA's newest publication Living With Grief: Children, Adolescents, and Loss. This book, available in March, contains eighteen articles, the perspectives of young people, a resource guide and bibliography. HFA will also publish a special issue of their bereavement newsletter, Journeys, written for adolescents by adolescents. "We feel it's important to hear the actual voices of young people as we examine this important topic," commented Jack D. Gordon, President of HFA.  

"Rarely do we consider the range of losses that children and adolescents experience," noted Gordon. "Whether they are grieving the death of a parent or grandparent, or they must face the loss involved in re-locating, divorce, or other traumatic incidents, children and adolescents often do not know how to cope."  

The teleconference is sponsored by a grant from the Project on Death in America of the Open Society Institute, the Veterans Health Administration Office of Information, Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Foundation For End of Life Care. In cooperation with Annenberg/CPB, funders of "Death: A Personal Understanding," John Hancock, The Compassionate Friends, and the Association for Death Education & Counseling.  

This year's teleconference broadcast falls within days of the first anniversary of the Columbine High School tragedy. A time when the effects of grief and loss on young people are likely to be discussed on a national level.  

More information on the teleconference, available resources, and information on hosting the teleconference for local communities is available by contacting HFA.