INPCS Leadership: Jane Conrad

Jane Conrad
Member At-Large, INPCS Board of Directors

Jane Conrad is a retired trial attorney (New York Attorney General’s Office) who has dedicated the years following her husband’s death from Parkinson’s disease to advocating for improved support for individuals living with serious illness and their caregivers. Her advocacy focuses on legislative reform and education.

Her late husband, Ken, lived with Parkinson’s disease for 19 years, a condition that eventually impacted every aspect of his life. He relied on a walker or wheelchair and required assistance with basic tasks such as showering and dressing. Eating became difficult, and swallowing issues led to periodic bouts of aspiration pneumonia.  Ken also suffered from night terrors, often involving kicking and yelling, as well as episodes of delusional thinking, confusion, and hallucinations. Among the most debilitating and humiliating symptoms were urinary and fecal incontinence.

Palliative care was profoundly helpful for both Ken and Jane. The palliative care physician helped Ken articulate and document his values and priorities and served as a consistent and compassionate resource during the final year of his life. With this support, the family was able to navigate difficult decisions regarding treatments, hospitalizations, hospice benefits, and ultimately, Ken’s transition to a local hospice house. Thanks to the clarity of Ken’s wishes, the support of the care team, and the strength of their partnership, Ken experienced a peaceful death, and his children and Jane were able to grieve without regret or doubts about the care he received.

Since Ken’s passing, Jane has become a passionate advocate for palliative care. She serves on the board of MaineHealth Home Health & Hospice, provides the patient & caregiver perspective to the Maine Palliative Care Advisory Council, is an Ambassador for Ariadne Labs’ Serious Illness Care Program, collaborates with The Conversation Project and AARP, and shared her family’s story in a video presentation at the 2023 national Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC) conference. Jane has provided testimony to the Maine legislature in support of palliative care legislation, and is particularly grateful for the legislature’s passage of a bill which will cover interdisciplinary palliative care to Medicaid beneficiaries beginning in 2026.