"Caregiving and Loss: Family Needs, Professional Responses" a live-via-satellite videoconference on Wednesday, April 18 at 1 p.m., will examine ways that counseling and healthcare professionals can better assist family caregivers.

Hosted by Genesee Region Home Care's Hospice of Rochester, the videoconference will be presented locally in the Douglas Auditorium at The Genesee Hospital in Rochester. The national videoconference runs from 1:30 to 4 p.m., followed by a local panel discussion.

The April 18 program will offer insight and practical suggestions for those assisting families as they respond to the challenges of caregiving, make critical end-of-life decisions, and cope with their grief.

When the national videoconference concludes, GRHC Hospice director Barbara Giehl will moderate a local panel discussing caregiving issues. Panelists include Annie Long, director of client services for AIDS Rochester; Sister Gratia L'Esperance of Mercy Center with the Aging; Pat Thompson, a Hospice volunteer and Alzheimer's disease family caregiver; and Stuart Burke, a cancer family caregiver.

Rochester presentation of this program is co-sponsored by AIDS Rochester, Mercy Center for the Aging, Monroe County Office of Aging, and the Alzheimer's Association-Rochester.

Admission to the "Caregiving and Loss" videoconference and panel discussion is free, although reservations are requested by calling 214-1573.