TEND 2026 - Tennessee's Conference on Grief, Hospice, and End-of-Life Care

TEND is a professional conference focused on grief, hospice, palliative care, and compassionate end-of-life support.
About this Event

TEND is a professional conference focused on grief, hospice, palliative care, and compassionate end-of-life support. Through keynote presentations, clinical education, interdisciplinary dialogue, creative experiences, and networking opportunities, attendees will explore how we care for ourselves and one another through life's most profound transitions.

We will be livestreaming both days and offering virtual tickets.

NBCC Continuing Education - November 6 only

Alive has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 8043. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Alive is solely responsible for all aspects of this program.

6 NBCC clock hours are available for eligible participants.

No partial credit will be awarded.

Additional continuing education information will be released as session approvals are finalized.

Agenda

🕑: 08:00 AM
Day 1 - Thursday, November 5, 2026

Info: Doors Open and Registration

🕑: 08:35 AM - 08:45 AM
Welcome and Opening Remarks by Alive's President/CEO, Amir Hamad
🕑: 08:45 AM - 10:00 AM
Keynote: Palliative Care Futurist: Matching Care to Our Patient's Needs
Host: Dr. Diane Meier, MD, FACP, FAAHPM

Info: Join nationally recognized palliative care leader Dr. Diane E. Meier as she explores the future of serious illness care and the growing need to better align healthcare services with patient needs and goals. This keynote will examine current gaps in access to palliative care, identify who can benefit from these services, and highlight key components of community-based palliative care models that improve quality of life, patient outcomes, and value across the healthcare continuum. Attendees will gain practical insights into advancing equitable, person-centered care for individuals living with serious illness.

🕑: 10:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Break
🕑: 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM
The Heart of Hospice: Supporting Patients and Families at End of Life
Host: Jessie Turley, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, ACHPN, Alive, Vice Pres

Info: Panelists include, Dr. Martha Prestley, CMO, Alive, Dr. David Barton, Co-Founder of Alive, Jessie Turley,

🕑: 11:00 AM - 11:15 AM
Break
🕑: 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Grief in Color, Loss in Song: Creative Arts Therapy in Hospice Care
Host: Rebekah Near, LCAT, CAGS , Alive, Grief Counselor

Info: How do we give voice to experiences that often leave us without words? This experiential workshop introduces participants to the roll of creative arts therapy in hospice and palliative care settings, highlighting the unique contribution of visual arts, music, movement, poetry, drama and other creative practices in supporting individuals and their families at end of life. Whether you are new to the creative arts or looking to deepen your understanding, this session offers an opportunity to explore how creativity can foster connection, ease suffering, and create space for reflection.

🕑: 12:30 PM - 01:25 PM
Lunch
🕑: 01:25 PM - 02:10 PM
Many Traditions, One Humanity: Interfaith Perspectives on End-of-Life Care
Host: Dr. Lynn Barton, Co-Founder of Alive

Info: This panel discussion will be facilitated by Abby Lemons, Alive's Chief Strategy and Communications Officer. Join faith leaders from diverse religious traditions for a thoughtful conversation exploring how different beliefs and practices shape experiences of serious illness, death, grief, and healing. Through shared perspectives and open dialogue, this panel will foster greater cultural understanding and provide practical insights for anyone caring for individuals and families at the end of life. Panelists include: Pastor Catina Parrish-Clark, Associate Pastor, Congregational Care at Mt. Zion, Imam Ossama Bahloul PhD at Islamic Center of Nashville, and Dr. Lynn Barton, Co-founder of Alive

🕑: 02:10 PM - 02:25 PM
Break and Ice Cream Social
🕑: 02:25 PM - 03:15 PM
Integrating End-of-Life Doulas into Hospice Care
Host: Anna Adams, International Doula Life Movement Institute

Info: As hospice care continues to evolve, organizations are exploring innovative ways to enhance patient and family support while addressing challenges such as staff burnout, family distress, and community misconceptions about hospice services. This presentation examines the emerging role of End-of-Life Doulas as non-clinical members of the interdisciplinary care team and their potential impact on communication, emotional support, family education, and overall hospice experience. Participants will gain insight into hospice-aligned doula training models, integration strategies, and the ways doulas can complement clinical teams to support compassionate, holistic end-of-life care.

🕑: 03:15 PM - 03:30 PM
Break and Art Unveiling
🕑: 03:30 PM - 04:20 PM
Grief and Dying in Pr*son: Giving an Account
Host: Barbara Yontz, Independent artist and educator

Info: In this talk departing from the film, Stitch and Time, I will speak about my experiences working for 13 years in various prisons in New York and Nashville. I taught an art class at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution to men on Death Row and also developed a college art program at St. Thomas Aquinas College in New York, taught in the program and taught college level classes at Sullivan Correctional Institution in NY, Turney Center Industrial Complex, Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, Debra Johnson Rehabilitation Center and DeBerry Special Needs Facility all in Tennessee. I plan to speak about is the overwhelming and continuing effects of grief I witness in the lives of individuals living their lives in Pr*son, in addition to using their own reflections on this as I am in contact with several individuals formerly and actively incarcerated.

🕑: 04:20 PM - 04:30 PM
Door Prizes and Meet the Speakers
🕑: 05:00 PM - 07:30 PM
Optional Add-On: Death Over Dinner, At The Venue

Info: Most of us will do almost anything to avoid talking about death. But what happens when we do?

About Death Over Dinner -

Conversations about how we want to live at the end of life are among the most important and often the most difficult to initiate. Alive’s Death Over Dinner brings community members together in a welcoming, supportive setting to explore these topics with honesty, curiosity, and care. Guided by thoughtful prompts and shared discussion, this interactive experience transforms a traditionally difficult subject into one of connection, reflection, and empowerment, helping participants feel more informed, less alone, and more confident in having conversations about end-of-life wishes with the people who matter most. Dinner provided

🕑: 08:00 AM - 08:30 AM
Day 2 - Friday, November 6, 2026

Info: Doors Open and Registration

🕑: 08:30 AM
Opening Remarks by Dr. Karen Hyden, CNO
🕑: 09:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Keynote: The Body is the First Responder: Developing Somatic Awareness
Host: Claudia Coenen, GTMR, FT, CGC

Info: The body is the first responder to emotion even before we are conscious of it. Since grief is a holistic experience, affecting us in many realms of being, somatic awareness helps integrate these realms in our response to loss. When working with bereaved people, we often pick up physical cues that speak, sometimes louder than words. By attending to our own non-verbal and expressive language, we can become compassionate with the people we serve.

🕑: 10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
Break
🕑: 10:30 AM - 11:45 AM
Grief C.A.R.E.: Engaging Approaches to Companioning Grief in Child
Host: Stephanie Larson, LMSW, Alive

Info: This highly interactive session invites participants to step into a child’s world of grief by actively engaging in the same movement, play-based, and expressive activities we use with children. As we explore how grief is understood across developmental stages, participants will learn how these understandings shape children's behavior, emotions, and everyday functioning in grief. Rather than simply hearing about these concepts, participants will engage in facilitated activities that reflect how we support children in processing grief—using developmentally responsive approaches grounded in play, movement, and expression. Together, we’ll lean into creativity, uncertainty, and the “messiness” that often reflects a child’s grief experience, while practicing tangible ways to foster connection and expression.

🕑: 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
Lunch
🕑: 12:45 PM - 01:45 PM
Grief, Community, & Culturally Responsive Care, Adolescent Homicide
Host: Dr. Patricia Bamwine, PhD, MA, MASW

Info: Holding the Aftermath: Grief, Community, & Culturally Responsive Care for Adolescent Homicide Survivors of African Descent - Knowledge of the subtle communication of body language and non-verbal expression will sensitize us to our clients, allowing us to pay closer attention to all aspects of their grief. This attunement can help them develop deeper insights into their own experience.

🕑: 01:45 PM - 02:00 PM
Break
🕑: 02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Holding Grief with Self-Leadership: An Internal Family Systems Approach
Host: Elizabeth Nunley, LCSW

Info: This experiential presentation introduces Internal Family Systems Therapy as a framework for understanding and working with grief. Participants will explore how to identify and be present with their own parts around grief while also learning practical applications of IFS to support grieving clients with greater compassion, clarity and attunement.

🕑: 03:30 PM - 03:45 PM
Break
🕑: 03:45 PM - 04:45 PM
Gina Frieden – Session Title Coming Soon

Info: Facilitated by: Gin Frieden, PhD, psychology

🕑: 04:45 PM - 05:00 PM
Closing Remarks, Evaluations and Door Prizes
🕑: 05:00 PM - 06:30 PM
Optional Add On: Tend What You Cannot Bury, A Grief Terrarium Workshop