Donald and Darlene Marcos Shiley Scholarships Enhance Palliative Care Access
San Diego, Calif. – January 21, 2016 csupalliativecare.org. The California State University Shiley Institute for Palliative Care is pleased to announce, thanks to a generous grant from Donald and Darlene Marcos Shiley Scholarships, that it has awarded scholarships to support palliative care training for 13 southern California health professionals. The recipients are registered nurses, chaplains, and social workers with a wide range of experience. Several have had beginning coursework in palliative care, but all expressed an intense desire to learn more about palliative care, and to bring this care to the patients they serve in San Diego County and southern Riverside and Orange Counties.
Palliative care is an extra layer of support provided by an interdisciplinary team to patients with chronic or serious illness and their families. It accompanies curative treatment and is focused on addressing distressing symptoms and improving quality of life. In Darlene Shiley’s own words, “I have experienced the power of palliative care to ease the suffering for someone that I love. It eased a difficult and challenging journey for my late husband Donald – and for me. It made me realize how specialized and important the field of palliative care is, and the growing need for such care in the future.”
As noted by CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care Executive Director, Helen B. McNeal, “These scholarships are extremely meaningful and important. We congratulate the recipients and deeply appreciate Mrs. Shiley’s generosity in making it possible to enhance the care that will be available to residents of this area.”
Training Will Occur in 2016
All thirteen scholarship recipients will be completing their respective training programs in 2016. Undertaking courses that involve a time commitment of from 8 weeks to 10 months, each awardee provided evidence of both their commitment and that their employers support their participation in the training.
McNeal concluded her remarks by adding, “We are grateful for the opportunity to offer these scholarships to committed, deserving health professionals, and hope that health care professionals everywhere will be interested in pursuing palliative care education and in delivering the compassionate, person-centered care that is palliative care.”
About the California State University Institute of Palliative Care located at Cal State San Marcos
The CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care offers palliative care-focused professional development and continuing education courses designed to enhance the skills of current and future healthcare professionals across the country and around the world. Housed within one of the largest university systems in the United States, the Institute leverages the strength of the CSU to deliver evidence-based online and in-person palliative care education to healthcare professionals working in health systems, hospices, skilled nursing facilities, health plans, case management, and physician practices. The Institute helps organizations and professionals achieve the palliative care skills needed to meet the growing needs of chronically or seriously ill people in all care settings.
