What Every Patient Advocate Needs to Know About Palliative Care

Professional patient advocates serving clients with significant health challenges should understand the benefits of palliative care, which is person-centered care designed to anticipate, prevent and manage suffering for patients with serious illness, from the time of diagnosis onward.

This online course examines the basic tenants of palliative care and how patient advocates can use it to support the people they serve. Topics covered include delivering bad news, goal setting, advance care planning and more.

What You’ll Learn

The course walks you through a comprehensive overview of palliative care including:

• Knowledge of Palliative Care
• The Palliative Care Team
• Delivery of Care
• Settings of Care
• Communication
• Increasing timely access to quality palliative care

What You’ll Earn

• Differentiate among “usual” care, palliative care and hospice care
• Identify the role of each member of the palliative care team and the benefits of interdisciplinary care
• Describe unique elements of the palliative care delivery process
• Recognize the value of palliative care in specific care settings
• Conduct an advance care planning conversation
• Assess and identify patients who would benefit from palliative care

Patient advocates are professionals dedicated to promoting their clients’ right to exercise autonomous decision making and meaningful informed consent, according to the ethical standards of the Patient Advocate Certification Board®. This advocacy role is nowhere more important than with a patient and family confronted with a life-threatening illness.

As patients and families struggle with the emotional, physical, and relational challenges that can accompany a serious or life-limiting illness, conflict or miscommunication may occur. Patient advocates can be called on to facilitate communication in multiple ways: between patient and family, between family members, and between the patient and/or family and the providers or interdisciplinary team.

What Every Patient Advocate Needs to Know about Palliative Care provides patient advocates with an overview of the issues and themes most prevalent in serious illness, as well as the resources available to support patients and families on this journey. Learn more about the What Every… Needs to Know About Palliative Care series and maximize your investment in palliative care.

Course Authors

• Sharon Stevenson DVM, PhD
• Kendra Deja, LCSW, MSN, GNP-BE, ACHPN
• Karl Steinberg, MD, CMD
• Kathy Brandt, MS
• In collaboration with:
• Carol Lovci, RN, MSN
• Monique Parrish, DrPH, MPH, LCSW
• Sue Wintz, MDiv, BCC

Completion and Refunds

In order to complete this course and obtain a certificate, you must view the course in its entirety, correctly answer all case studies and quiz/test questions (as appropriate) and complete the evaluation. You will have 90 days to access this course from the date of purchase. No refunds are given for self-paced courses.