3-by-3 for Effective Advance Care Planning/Directives

You’ll be hearing a lot all April about National Health Care Decisions Day (April 16) and the importance of doing your advance care planning and completing your advance medical directives. So here’s my wiki on advance care planning/directives, born of 20 years of study and teaching, giving and taking professional guidance, being a patient and a family member of patients many times over.

Medical Cannabis Course Offers Information for Palliative Care Clinicians

As interest and use of cannabis-derived products for treating symptoms of illness grow across the country, hospice and palliative care practitioners are increasingly looking to understand how these products fit into the palliative approach for treating symptoms of serious illness.

A Moment for the HeART at the 2022 National Symposium for Academic Palliative Care Education and Research

A space for self-care, reflection, and creative expression to be highlighted at the National Symposium for Academic Palliative Care in San Diego.

Reflections on a Palliative Care Response to Disaster

Read one physician’s story about how a devastating fire in Northern California impacted the community and first responders, the critical role the palliative care team played in time of crisis, and her call for systemic responses.

New “Essentials” of Nursing Education Create Opening for Palliative Care

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing has just taken a major step toward ensuring that clinical competencies in primary palliative care and end-of-life care are incorporated into nursing teaching curriculums. Learn more.

Healing From Soul Injury Presented by Deborah Grassman at National Symposium

Mental health nurse practitioner, CEO and founder of Opus Peace, Deborah Grassman, NP, to speak about her research into “Soul Injury” at the 2022 National Symposium in San Diego.

Joan Fisher, MD, PhD, FAAP, to Address Pediatric Palliative Care

Nationally recognized pediatric clinician-educator, Joan Fisher MD, PhD, FAAP, will address pediatric palliative care and communication with medically complex children and families at the National Symposium for Academic Palliative Care Education and Research in San Diego.

Expanding Rural Access Through Primary Palliative Care Training

The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the need for more accessibility to palliative care services. Addressing the disparity in access between rural and urban medical environments, and broader training of frontline clinical workers in primary palliative care, are imperatives, says guest blogger, Aldebra Schroll, MD, of the Butte-Glenn Medical Society.

Time for Palliative Care to Stretch Beyond the Patient-and-Family

What if we extended palliative care even beyond the patient-and-family, even with a loose definition of “family,” and said “patient and their communities” instead?

Addressing Spiritual Pain Challenges Palliative Clinicians

Efforts to support patients’ spiritual needs can sometimes be overlooked given more immediate symptom management demands. While most clinical education programs don't incorporate spiritual care, all clinicians need awareness of spiritual pain as a vital component of end-of-life care.

Palliative Care and Public Policy in California

Judy Thomas, CEO of the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (CCCC), delivers an update on recent public policy developments that positively impact POLST and palliative care in California.

Teaching Primary Palliative Care in a Large Health System

Ensuring all clinicians in any setting caring for patients with serious illness have communication and symptom management skills is a top priority—but requires leadership and training. Several models are available.