Interested in the very latest innovations being tried and tested by faculty across the nation? The poster reception at “Engaging the Next Generation – The National Symposium on Academic Palliative Care Education and Research”, featuring the latest in innovations and research, is going to be as dynamic and filled with new ideas as the rest of the event!
Collaborative Teamwork Learning Experiences in the Spotlight
Posters will reinforce the aims of the Symposium, one of which is to demonstrate collaborative research or teaching that’s happening now across departments, colleges and/or universities, and another of sharing educational innovations and/or research are advancing teamwork among professional disciplines. A poster prepared by a speech language pathology faculty member will demonstrate findings from a pilot study where medical, nursing, and speech language pathology students participated in didactic and team-based learning experiences in palliative care. Symposium participants can employ suggestions from her work’s conclusions and recommendations for further study.
Other posters will reinforce this aim by sharing studies ranging from establishing safety checklists, to ‘student centered learning’ that incorporates culture, religion, and ethics; and more. A full panel discussion will focus on interprofessional teamwork learning opportunities, as will a full breakout track of individual presentations.
Discipline-Specific Approaches can be Adapted
Another aim of the Symposium is to showcase innovative ways faculty from around the country have integrated palliative care into their pedagogy in disciplines outside of those traditionally associated with palliative care. For example, a modern languages professor will be sharing in poster form her teaching approach of using movies about catastrophic illness/disability in her French film course. Her research employed well-established models for exploring film narrative, which she steered students to employ in analyzing the reality conveyed in two chosen films. Students then compared what they discovered and discussed to a researched and published model of closely listening to patients’ stories. New approaches such as this are helping all students, not just those in the health professions, understand palliative care and its importance in their lives and those of their families.
Faculty from disciplines such as nursing will be featuring their work too. For example, despite a national agenda to increase palliative care education in nursing curriculum, integration into the educational system remains slow. A poster presentation will demonstrate an early exposure approach for 3rd year nursing students using the American Association of Colleges of Nursing CARES: Competencies and Recommendations for Educating Undergraduate Nursing Students Preparing Nurses to Care for the Seriously Ill and their Families. The goal of this study and its implementation is to better prepare new nursing graduates with knowledge and tools to discuss palliative care or end-of-life care with family members.
Interactive breakout tracks will feature presentations on a wide array of novel approaches used for classroom and community teaching including games and service learning, providing tools to adapt and apply the strategies in attendees’ home classrooms and communities.
Professional Development that Nurtures Sharing and Exchange Among Peers
“Engaging the Next Generation – The National Symposium on Academic Palliative Care Education and Research” will be a venue for faculty from all disciplines to join together, discuss and share with one another the best innovations and research in a field where all agree that easing the suffering of those with chronic or serious illness is our goal. Best of all, every attendee will leave with tools and ideas that we believe will excite and energize them, and engage them with ensuring that every student has an exposure to palliative care that is both meaningful and enlightening.
