PA Funeral Directors Association Convention

The Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Assocation -- one of the oldest & largest associations of funeral directors in the nation -- will hold its 126th Annual Convention & Exhibition on June 11-13, 2007, in Grantville, PA. Members & exhibitor are invited to register.

In a statement to potential exhibitors, PFDA notes:

Since its first convention in 1882, [PFDA] has grown to represent over 1000 funeral firms in Pennsylvania. With approximately 1600 funeral homes in this Commonwealth, PFDA clearly represents the overwhelming majority of licensees.

The PFDA's 2007 Convention will offer seven hours of continuing education courses on practical business & operations topics selected according to PFDA members' expressed interests. The courses are approved for credit by state boards of funeral directors in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, & Maryland, with further approval anticipated for such boards in New York, Delaware, Ohio, & West Virgina, and also by the PA Coroners Education Board.

Some of the courses will focus on cross-disciplinary topics. One speaker will be Lisa J. Dinhofer, MA, CT, CTBS. She is a Certified Thanatologist & Transplant Consultant with a concentration in traumatic loss, who is a recognized expert on the emotional, ethical, and legal aspects of consent for organ and tissue donation for transplant.

She will present three sessions that could benefit any professional working with families facing death, particularly in situations of sudden/traumatic loss, mutilation or absence of remains, death notification to survivors, or organ donation.

• "Working with Difficult Families: Managing Their Decision-Making Barriers in Pre-Planning & At-Need Planning" -- This session will focus on common obstacles to decision-making that funeral directors encounter while assisting families in pre-planning and during at-need planning meetings, including fence-sitting; gatekeepers; conflict between family members; multiple decision-makers and anger. You will walk away with practical ideas, helpful tips, and valuable insights on how to manage conflict between family members that inhibits decision-making.
• "The Unique Bereavement Issues of Organ & Tissue Donor Families" -- This session will offer an insight on the short and long-term impact organ and tissue donation has on the bereavement process; differences in grief responses between organ and tissue donor families; why people consent or refuse to donate; the Funeral Director’s role in working with donor families after they have made the decision to donate and their long-term impact on those families.
• "Helping Families Cope with Sudden Traumatic Loss, Mutilation & Missing Remains" -- This session will address working with families affected by homicide, suicide, multiple loss and pediatric death; dealing with mutilation and a family’s request for a private viewing; assisting families with missing remains; assisting children attending wakes and funerals; and aftercare. She will provide you with specific techniques for assisting families wishing to view their loved one affected by mutilation; how to assist those families where decedent remains are missing; how to assist children when accompanying families to wakes and funerals; and how to identify issues unique to families experiencing homicide, suicide, multiple loss and pediatric death.

Contact information for the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association is:

7441 Allentown Boulevard
Harrisburg, PA 17112
Ofc: 1-800-692-6068
Fax: 717-545-7360

The PFDA Convention Registration packet, including prices & schedule of events, is available online here (PDF, 241 kb, 9 pages).