University Chaplain the Rev. Janet Cooper Nelson has been elected to the board of trustees for Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island, the oldest hospice care program in the state. Cooper Nelson, who said she has long been interested in healthcare issues and the ethics of physician-assisted suicide, was elected in the spring.
Cooper Nelson said her connection with Home & Hospice Care is a "new involvement," but she noted that she has had direct experience with hospice programs - which provide palliative care, often for the terminally ill - in the past.
"I, myself, went into hospice care," Cooper Nelson said, declining to elaborate.
Cooper Nelson said she was attracted to the organization due to her predecessor's previous commitment - the Rev. Charles Baldwin served as University chaplain for 29 years and was the first president of Home & Hospice Care's board of trustees, beginning in 1976. She said she was sought out for the position by John Eng-Wong '62, chairman of the organization's board and former director of foreign student, faculty and staff services at Brown.
Analee Wulfkuhle, the president and CEO of Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island, said in a press release that the group is excited about working with Cooper Nelson.
"We look forward to her sharing her keen intellect, experience, dedication to service and expertise in spiritual care issues with us," she said.
Cooper Nelson's position at the University calls for her not only to direct the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life but also to make home visits, similar to those made by hospice programs, to professors, students and staff, she said.
As one of Home & Hospice's 21 board members, Cooper Nelson's duties on the board will consist of overseeing all the resources and programs of the organization as well as upholding their mission and commitment to quality health care.
"Hospices took the fear and mystery away from people who are dying," Cooper Nelson said.
