Facebook
Facebook Palliative Care
Twitter Palliative Care
LinkedIn Palliative Care

Palliative Care Education – Anytime, Anywhere

Facebook Palliative Care
Twitter Palliative Care
LinkedIn Palliative Care

Palliative Care Education - Anytime, Anywhere

Palliative Care Blog

Interprofessional Education Helps Build Strong Palliative Care Teams

by Leave a Comment

Interdisciplinary Teams Benefit Patients, Families and Caregivers

Interprofessional Education Helps Build Strong Palliative Care Teams

When Brian (last name withheld for privacy) was treated for cancer at the Mayo Clinic in September 2019, his palliative care team worked together to provide him not only relief from his physical pain but also emotional comfort.

That team approach – a hallmark of palliative care – not only provided an extra layer of support to Brian, but to his wife Lynn. “They really advocated on our behalf within the complex system of Brian’s treatment,” she said. 

Brian’s care team was part of an interdisciplinary team (IDT) model that typically includes a physician, a nurse, a social worker, and other healthcare professionals. His story is highlighted in a Sept. 10, 2019, Mayo Clinic Educational YouTube video, “Palliative Care for You and Your Family.”

Working as a Team

“The crux of palliative care is a team-based approach to care, really aimed at treating the physical symptoms as well as the emotional and spiritual symptoms of a serious illness,” Jacob J. Strand, MD, a palliative care physician at the Mayo Clinic, says in the video.

[Read more…]

Pediatric Palliative Care Training Needed

by Leave a Comment

Pediatric patientMore Pediatric Palliative Care Education Needed, Expert Says

In the normal cycle of life, children outlive their parents by decades. When the situation is reversed, and the child is diagnosed with a life-limiting illness or devastating genetic abnormality, deep suffering can affect the entire family, as well as members of the care team.

Pediatric palliative care can help relieve the symptoms and stress of a child’s illness by helping to address the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the child and family, with the goal of improving quality of life.

Because advances in healthcare are helping seriously ill children live years longer than once expected, the need for pediatric palliative care providers is growing. Providing truly effective pediatric palliative care, however, requires strong teams educated in caring for and communicating with young patients and their families, experts say.

[Read more…]

My Take on New Year’s Resolutions. “What really matters?”

by Leave a Comment

Jennifer BallentineHappy Holidays From the Institute

These Resolutions Lead to Life Without Regret

By Jennifer Moore Ballentine

Today a reporter called me, as someone who has spent time with people who are approaching the ends of their lives or living with suffering and struggle, to ask for my take on New Year’s Resolutions. “What really matters?” she asked. “What should we really focus on and what should we let go?”

Well now… I’ve given this some considerable thought, as I’m sure many in the palliative care community have. We are blessed to be often in the presence of people who are summing up their lives, celebrating accomplishments, grieving losses, healing hurts, expressing regrets. On that last point, I’ve heard quite a few, but it seems to me they boil down to two:

  • Holding back
  • Wasting time

[Read more…]

2019 Palliative Care Symposium Recap

by Leave a Comment

Symposium Participants2019 Symposium: Conscious, Collaborative Leadership Can Help Advance Palliative Care 

Experts Gather for Annual Event Aimed at Enhancing Palliative Care Teaching, Practice

Collaborative and conscious leadership – from palliative care clinicians and educators in any role and every discipline – is the key to advancing the field and influencing change within and around us, according to speakers at this year’s National Symposium for Palliative Care Education and Research.

The 2019 Symposium gathered university faculty, clinicians, and researchers from across the country for two days of plenaries, workshops, panels, paper sessions, and poster sessions focused on shaping the future of palliative care teaching and practice. The theme of this year’s event was “Advancing Palliative Care: Leading into the Future.”

[Read more…]

The Holidays and Advance Care Planning Conversations

by Leave a Comment

Hugging grandmaHoliday Gatherings are a Great Time for Advance Care Planning

Experts say ‘Tis the Season to Talk with Family about Healthcare Wishes  

When parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other family members gather around the holiday dinner table, conversations are typically sprinkled with small talk about the weather, football scores, and the latest gift-giving trends.

Rarely, though, do families address perhaps the most important subject for any adult – especially older adults with a serious health condition such as cancer, lung disease, or heart failure. What matters most to them in the time they have left on earth? How do they feel about invasive life-sustaining measures such as life support that might only prolong the inevitable? What kind of medical care would they want if they are no longer able to speak for themselves?

Discussing these healthcare decisions and the values that guide them is called advance care planning – and the best time to do it is now, experts say.

While such talk may seem at odds with the festive spirit of the season, the holidays are actually the perfect time for end-of-life discussions, said Sharon Hamill, PhD, a professor of Psychology at Cal State University San Marcos who has done significant work in the area of advance care planning. Hamill is the former and founding director of the CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care at Cal State San Marcos, a campus partner of the CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care.

[Read more…]