DURHAM, N.C. - More than 400 chaplains, pastors, physicians, nurses and hospice care providers will gather at Duke University on Wednesday, Aug. 23, for a day-long conference on religious communities and care for the dying.

Sponsored by the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life, "Partners in Caring: End-of Life Care in the Church and Community" is being held in conjunction with an upcoming public television series on death and dying. The conference is intended to help prepare pastors, chaplains and lay leaders to facilitate discussion and study in their own congregations about both the series and end-of-life issues.

The four-part television program, "On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying," is scheduled to air on PBS Sept. 10-13. Hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Bill Moyers, the series will report on the growing movement nationwide to improve care for the dying.

In addition to a preview of the Moyers program, the Duke conference will include the following sessions and speakers:

• Memory and Hope at the End of Life: L. Gregory Jones, dean of the Duke Divinity School;
• Faith Communities and Hospice Care: Ursula R. Robinson, director of home care for Hospice of Greensboro Inc.; Karla Brandon, a nurse at Hospice of Greensboro; and Becky Sansbury, chaplain at Hospice of Wake County;
• Communicating with Physicians and Other Health Care Providers: Dr. James Tulsky, associate director of the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life and an associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center;
• Who Can Help: Community Resources: a panel of regional hospice leaders, moderated by Judi Lund Person, president and CEO of Hospice for the Carolinas; and Education and Care in the Local Congregation: Dr. Keith G. Meador, director of the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life.

The Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life seeks to improve care for the dying through interdisciplinary scholarship, teaching and outreach. Based at the Duke Divinity School, the program brings together scholars and students from throughout Duke and partnering institutions.