Breakout Sessions and Agenda for Palliative Care Symposium

8:30 am

Introductory Remarks

8:45 am

Opening Keynote

Harnessing the Magic of Palliative Care Education to Awaken Joy and Meaning in Medicine

• Description

  Great teachers inspire. Their passion to transform practice infects learners with insatiable curiosity and intention. As a seasoned palliative care physician and multi-disciplinary educator in academic and community settings, Dr. Johnson will humbly share instructional feats and flails. The session will highlight: a stepwise approach to the development and delivery of palliative care curricula; strategies to integrate the arts, metaphor, and humor into teaching; and published evidence describing effective educational interventions. Dr. Johnson will challenge participants to reflect upon their own efforts to arouse compassion and competence.

• Daniel C. Johnson, MD, FAAHPM, National Physician Lead for Specialty Palliative Care, Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute

9:45 am

Break

10:15 am

Concurrent Sessions

Panel

Bringing the Needs of Young Caregivers Mainstream

• Description

  Approximately 1.4 million children and youth under the age 18 provide care to a family member. Young caregivers provide levels of care that would challenge most adults, yet they do so with almost no support, education, training, or guidance. Despite the widespread prevalence of youth caregiving, it is a role that remains largely hidden from program and policy across the U.S. However, there is a small but growing number of U.S. and international researchers actively developing and delivering services to these young people. This panel will focus on a few of the novel school, health care, and community-based programs and initiatives developed in the US and Canada targeting young caregivers. They will highlight-the growing evidenced-based programs developed to bring attention to this isolated and little known caregiving population.

• Sharon Hamill, PhD, CSU San Marcos
• Melinda Kavanaugh, PhD, LCSW, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
• Elizabeth Olson, PhD, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
• Vivian Stamatopoulos, PhD, University of Ontario, Institute of Technology

Workshop

Responding to Requests for Aid in Dying

• Description

  Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) is a sensitive and emotionally charged topic in many respects. The ethical and legal landscape varies by state and institution, and must be given close attention. This workshop will explore MAID as part of a patient’s spiritual journey towards death, and that such inquiry will be an area of spiritual struggle for anyone involved in the process. It will provide an opportunity for participants to explore their own spiritual and emotional perspective in a safe and collegial environment, so that they will be prepared to meet patients with these questions using an authentic human connection.

• Judy Knudson, MPAS, PA-C, BSN, and Rachel Revelle, MDiv, University of Colorado

Panel

Extending Palliative Care in the Ambulatory Setting

• Description

  This panel describes a home-based and ambulatory palliative care program developed for Medicare Advantage patients: how the home-based and ambulatory programs was developed and sustained to serve seriously ill populations; tools developed to identify the seriously ill as well as the metrics used to measure and evaluate quality and success of the program; an advance care planning training program; and includes a discussion of current successful outcomes and challenges for a healthcare delivery network serving more than 227,000 patients, mostly Medicare-eligible seniors, in Texas and Florida.

• S. Liliana Oakes, MD, Margaret (Monty) LaPierre, MSN, RN, and Esmeralda Villanueva, LBSW, Wellmed Medical Management

Paper Session – Interprofessional Teams

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Inpatient Palliative Care Consultation Teams (PCCTs)

• Description

  In order to enhance the effectiveness of palliative care consultation teams (PCCTs), this study examined the nuances of collaboration between PCCTs and other inpatient providers. Interviews with palliative and non-palliative providers at three Midwestern hospitals were conducted to examine healthcare providers’ attitudes toward palliative care (PC) services, and to identify facilitators and barriers to meaningful collaboration. The presentation will discuss themes that emerged which may inform future efforts and interventions to enhance collaboration between PCCTs and other providers.

• Meghan McDarby, MA, and Brian Carpenter, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis

When the Team Acted Like a Real Team: Collaboration, Communication, Interdisciplinary Teams & Care Quality

• Description

  The aim of this study was to examine palliative care providers’ perceptions of interdisciplinary collaboration, communication and quality of care. The results add to the growing discussion of what contributes to the quality of palliative care, improving the understanding of key elements of care quality, and enabling providers to develop structures and environments to optimize effective IDT/patient/family collaboration and communication.

• Joy Goebel, RN, PhD, FPCN, and Sue Robertson, RN, PhD, CSU Long Beach

IPE and Palliative Care: An Alignment of Education and Practice

• Description

  Interdisciplinary teamwork is the gold standard of palliative care, and interprofessional education is the best pedagogy to prepare a collaborative ready healthcare workforce. This study reports on a multi-faceted IPE curriculum that introduced students to palliative care and the interdisciplinary team among nursing and speech-language pathology students, to measure their learning outcomes.

• Nassrine Noureddine, EdD, MSN, BSN, CSU Sacramento
• Darla K. Hagge PhD, CCC-SLPi, UC Davis

Measuring and Improving the Effectiveness of Interprofessional Teamwork

• Description

  Effective interprofessional teamwork has been shown to improve quality of care, safety, and other patient, clinician, and organizational outcomes. This study explored similarities and differences of interprofessional teams in various healthcare settings using survey instruments to measure the effectiveness of interprofessional teams. Discussion will include elements involved in effective interprofessional teamwork as they relate to how to build effective work among team members.

• Stacy Starkka, PhD, CSU Institute for Palliative Care

Workshop

World Wide Healing Movement: Hope Made Visible™

• Description

  This workshop features a program transforming the consciousness of individuals affected by cancer from co-dependency and disconnection/isolation, to deep interconnectedness by raising empathic awareness and restoring hope and resilience, essential qualities for humans to thrive. Through guided meditation/visualization & art making processes, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on what gives them – and the patients they work with – hope, meaning, and a vehicle for self-expression. A variety of art materials will be used, all are non-toxic and easy to use—no previous experience necessary.

• Alessandra Colfi, PhD, UC San Diego Health System

11:30 am

Table Topic Luncheon

12:45 am

Plenary Panel

Supporting Family Caregivers of Seriously Ill Seniors: Research, Training, and Community Connections

• Description

  Three experts in supporting family caregivers will highlight the struggles that family caregivers of seriously ill seniors face and the support available. Drs. Wolff and Harvath and Ms. Kelly will review the current state and needs of family caregivers, and how they can connect with community resources to assist them. Panelists will discuss their views on resources and gaps that need to be addressed through research and training.

• Jennifer Wolff, PhD, Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Kathleen Kelly, MPA, Executive Director, Family Caregiver Alliance, National Center on Caregiving
• Theresa Harvath, PhD, RN, FAAN, Executive Associate Dean & Clinical Professor, Director, Family Caregiving Institute, The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis
• Moderator: Zia Agha, MD, Chief Medical Officer, West Health Institute

Supported by West Health Institute

2:00 pm

Break

2:15 pm

Concurrent Sessions

Workshop

Brave New World: AI and Machine Learning in Palliative Care

• Description

  Artificial intelligence is transforming our world, and nowhere is its potential more exciting than in healthcare. Studies suggest AI, when combined with clinical observations, can dramatically impact the early detection and diagnosis of disease, the discovery of new drugs, and the accuracy of prognostication in patients with serious illness. The latter is key to achieving timely access to palliative care. This workshop will explore relevant data on the utilization of machine learning and AI in healthcare, and look at specific applications of AI in palliative care, including identification of appropriate patients to facilitate referrals, prognostication, and collecting and analyzing outcome and quality data.

• Jeremy Powell, MPT, CEO, and Sangeet Sauraph, Acclivity Health Solutions

Workshop

Using the Rothman Index to Communicate with Patients and Families Regarding Patient Status

• Description

  This session will cover how the clinical team uses proactive rounding and the Rothman Index (RI) to help trigger palliative care consults and communicate with patients and families in the ICU. Strategies to be discussed include use of a tailored educational flier for families, and clinical surveillance protocols used among the care team. The palliative care team uses the surveillance information to support the primary clinical team in improving quality patient care.

• Olufunmilayo Ogundele, MD, MS, LifeBridge Health

Workshop

Palliative Care Simulation with Nursing Students: Impact on Communication Skills

• Description

  This workshop will demonstrate a simulation about end-of-life conversations that has been incorporated in an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program, and will include information on the structure of a study that evaluates the impact of an EOL seminar in combination with this simulation on students’ attitudes towards and comfort level with caring for dying patients. A debrief component provides an opportunity for students to reflect on their own experiences and personal beliefs and attitudes about EOL issues. The Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying scale is used. This workshop will utilize active learning techniques by engaging participants in the simulation, debrief, and general discussion of the experience.

• Kirsten Preusse, RN, MSN, AC-CNS, CCRN, and Kevin Reilly, MSN, EdD (c), Samuel Merritt University

Panel

Palliative Care for Special Populations with Unique Needs

• Description

  In this panel session, presenters address the unique needs in palliative and end-of-life care for four groups of patients: people with serious mental illness, veterans, primary care patients in rural areas, and people with neurocognitive disorders. Each presentation begins with a review of the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of the population, followed by an analysis of key bio-psycho-social-spiritual issues that are common in palliative and end-of-life care with the group. Unique issues in access to care, assessment, and treatment are summarized, along with implications for care partners and clinicians. Each paper closes with a synthesis of research and training needs, and a discussion of relevant public policy.

• Julia Kasel-Godley, PhD, VA Palo Alto Health Care System
• Veronica Shead, PhD, VA St. Louis Health Care System
• Rebecca Allen, PhD, ABPP, University of Alabama
• Brian Carpenter, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis

Paper Session – Communication

Practicing Difficult End-of-Life Conversations using Mixed-Reality Simulation

• Description

  Nursing students may have the opportunity to observe difficult conversations, such as end-of-life discussions, in experiential learning courses, however many times, the first experiences navigating difficult conversations with patients, family, or other colleagues, occur in the work environment long after graduation. A mixed-reality virtual simulation allows for the opportunity for students to engage in a safe environment, while practicing important communication skills and responses. This paper reports on a dual-campus partnership where undergraduate nursing students piloted a mixed reality virtual simulation focused on end-of-life care as a high-impact teaching-learning practice.

• Jaime Hannans, PhD, RN, CNE, and Ben Hytrek, BA, CSU Channel Islands

Palliative Care Information to Support Practice – A Web-Based Program

• Description

  Recently passed policies mandate access to information about palliative care among those persons that may benefit, requiring hospitals, clinics, and long-term-care providers to disseminate information about palliative care to patients selected as being in need of this level of care. This workshop describes an open-access educational program created to equip healthcare providers with the right language to effectively communicate about the benefits and availability of palliative, and reports on knowledge and satisfaction of participants.

• Raeann LeBlanc, DNP, AGPCNP-BC, CHPN, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Challenges in Symptom Reporting by Cancer Patients

• Description

  Previous research with cancer survivors indicated that many with bothersome symptoms complained their symptoms were not addressed, supporting previous findings that symptom burden can be a long-term problem, in addition to being an issue during treatment. Many symptoms are subjective in nature, making the clinician and researcher dependent on patient self-report. In order to better understand gaps in communication about symptoms, this study examined patients’ perspectives on symptom distress, intention to discuss symptoms, and actual symptom discussion with health care professionals (HCPs) in medical oncology visits, and provides insights about symptom communication in the oncology setting.

• Teresa Deshields, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine

3:30 pm

Break

4:00 pm

Plenary Session

Funding Mechanisms and Opportunities: Building the Science of Palliative Care

• Description

  Dr. Miller will discuss the interplay of research with clinical practice, why research is mutually important to scholars and practitioners at all levels, and avenues for obtaining funding for palliative care research.

• Jeri Miller, PhD, MS, MSc, Chief, Office of End-of-Life and Palliative Care Research (OEPCR) and NINR Center’s Program, National Institutes of Health

5:00 pm

Poster Session

Advance Care Planning and Proxy Decision-Making Preferences Among Persons With Dementia and Caregivers

• Jung Kwak, PhD, The University of Texas at Austin

A Health Plan’s Approach to Providing Palliative Care Everywhere

• Kristen Vallone, BS, and Kimberley Beverly, MSW, Blue Shield of California

Curricular Mapping to Incorporate Palliative Care Training into a PA Program: Keep it All Together!

• Nadya Dimitrov, DPM, PA-C, Stony Brook University

Death Anxiety among Chinese Older Adults with a Religious Affiliation

• Mandong Liu, MSSW, University of Southern California

Developing Inpatient Palliative Care Champions: The SJMC Model

• Brittany Hagge-Langevin, RN, BSN, SCRN, St. Jude Medical Center; Darla Hagge, PhD, CCC-SLP, California State University – Sacramento

Efficacy of Physical Activity After Death of a Loved One

• Amber Derksen, PhD, RN, OCN, CHPN, CNE, Georgia Southern University – Armstrong Campus

End-of-Life Education in Nurse Residency: Providing the Tools for Success

• Kathleen Murphy, DNP, MSN, BSN, Fox Chase Cancer Center

Ethical Needs Assessment of Associate Degree Nurses Seeking a Bachelor’s Degree

• Annie Huynh, DNP, RN, PHN, FNP-BC, CNOR, Heidi He, DNP, MSN, FNP-C, RN, FNP, CSU Bakersfield

Following Advance Care Plans for Patient Preferences at End of Life

• Savitri Singh-Carlson, APHN-BC, PhD, FAAN, San Diego State University

Frank Sinatra Captivates College Students to Work in Hospice Care

• Lori Montross-Thomas, PhD, LightBridge Hospice and Palliative Care

Getting What You Want as You Age: An ACP Workshop

• Sheri Mauk, BS, and Teresa Cooney, PhD, University of Colorado Denver

Hope Made Visible™: A World Wide Healing Movement Sharing Flags

• Alessandra Colfi, PhD, UC San Diego Health System, San Diego Cancer Research Institute

Moving Forward: Improving Access of Palliative Care Services of Indian Migrants With Terminal Illness

• Sujatha Shanmugasundaram, PhD, GCTE, MACN, California State University Fresno

Narrative Medicine for Healthcare Providers: Improving Practices of Advance Care Planning

• Cara Wallace, PhD, LMSW, April Trees, PhD, Leslie Hinyard, PhD, MSW, and Jennifer Ohs, PhD, Saint Louis University

New Nurse’s Experiences Caring for Patients & Their Families at the End-of-Life

• Bethany Nasser, PhD, RN, Endicott College

Outcomes Associated with a Nurse-Driven Palliative Care Protocol in the ICU

• Kim Martz, PhD, RN, Boise State University

Principles of Palliative Radiotherapy: Didactic Training for Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellows

• Emily Martin, MD, University of California, San Diego

Problems and Prospects in Providing EOL Care For Older Adults in Allahabad: Physicians Perspective

• Rashmi Gupta, PhD, San Francisco State University

Service Providers’ Perceptions of Pain Management Needs Among Rural Older Adults

• Hyunjin Noh, PhD, MSW, University of Alabama; Anne Halli-Tierney, MD, and Caroline Whittington, BA, The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Teaching Undergraduate Nursing Students about Serious Illness: An Alternative Course Design

• Amy Beasley, RN, DNP, University of Alabama

The “D-Word” — An Undergraduate Learning Experience in Talking about Dying

• Raeann LeBlanc, PhD, DNP, AGPCNP-BC, CHPN, and Maureen Groden, MS, RN, CHPN, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Olga Ehrlich, PhD, RN, CHPN, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

The Impact of Lay Navigators on Access to Cancer Services in a Pacific Islander Community

• Corina Penaia, MPH, Diana Tisnado, PhD, California State University, Fullerton

Understanding and Measuring the Experience of Symptom Burden in Heart Failure

• Macy Stockdill, University of Alabama at Birmingham

What Gives Your Life Meaning (WGYLM©): Increasing High School Students’ Awareness Of Palliative Care

• Kathy Givens, MS in Gerontology, CSU Long Beach

When Crucial Conversations Become Critical: POLST? Code? What’s That?

• Hannah Farquharson, MD, Watsonville Community Hospital; Jack Belshe, Student, University of Southern California; S. Xavier Cortes, Student, Cabrillo Community College

5:00 pm

Reception

6:30 pm

Adjourn

7:00 am

Workshop

Meditation in Motion: Yoga

• Description

  Join in for a restorative, soothing, focused Yoga session as a meditation in motion set to music that will relax your body and sharpen your mind. This session will be an easy and relaxing process with guided self-awareness through music, blending asanas and spontaneous, intuitive movements, ending with a deeper guided meditation. Meditation in Motion offers participants direct experience of Yoga as a set of tools/modality with research & evidence-based applications and benefits in palliative care.

• Alessandra Colfi, PhD, UC San Diego Health System

8:25 am

Introductory Remarks

8:30 am

Morning Keynote

Accessing Hospice and Palliative Care: The Influence of Culture on End-of-Life Decision Making

• Description

  Medical advances have made it possible for people to live longer with chronic and terminal illnesses. Hospice and palliative care have become the gold standard for a good death, treating patients’ symptoms, while eliminating protracted, painful, end-of-life experiences. Data show racial and ethnic differences in the utilization hospice and palliative care, across groups. For example, while people of color comprise about 27% of the U.S. population, approximately 87% of all these services provided in the U.S. are received by White, non-Hispanic, older adults. Expected to be the majority by 2050, people of color are more likely to experience greater chronic disease-related mortality and morbidity rates. While people in the U.S. are living longer with chronic/non-curable illness and disease, the disparity in health service access and utilization for all people, are of concern for those of us who spend our entire careers searching of answers that will lead to the elimination of barriers and improve the quality of life, until the end. This lecture identifies numerous challenges that palliative care practitioners confront as the U.S. becomes increasingly more diverse, and more especially, for those us who see cultural competence as a tool for improving access to resources across groups; and across practice paradigms and populations. Finally, it examines the complexities of cultural diversity and explains how lack of inclusiveness and attention to diversity affect all aspects of our lives in practice and in our communities.

• Karen Bullock, PhD, LCSW, Professor and Department Head, Department of Social Work, and John A. Hartford Faculty Scholar, North Carolina State University

9:30 am

Break

10:00 am

Concurrent Sessions

Workshop

Ethical Challenges in Palliative Care Research 

• Description

  Academic researchers are forging partnerships with inpatient and community-based palliative care and hospice services to gain access to a research population. As the palliative care academic and clinical communities advance the evidence base for effective care on behalf of all our current and future patients, what also must be considered are the particular vulnerabilities of seriously ill and dying patients and their families, the burden of additional work placed on already overextended clinical staff, and the complicating clinical and administrative realities in which we operate. This workshop will explore the current “research landscape” in palliative care, examine the ethical objections to and justifications for participating in clinical research projects, and engage participants in an interactive exercise to develop organizational strategies — or “ethics infrastructure” — to guide research-oriented activities and respond to the potential dilemmas and conflicts they may engender.

• Jennifer Moore Ballentine, MA, CSU Institute for Palliative Care

Workshop

Mindfulness: Integrating Mind, Soul, and Neuroscience in Education and Practice

• Description

  Serious illness, transition and loss is often an emotional roller coaster for the entire family, as well as the helping professionals involved. These situations are not only when a family needs their most effective coping skills, but also are a time of high stress risk for clinicians and care-takers which can lead to burn-out, emotional fatigue and shutting down. This educational workshop will review recent research on mindfulness, and summarize several practical ways mindfulness can be taught to palliative care staff and integrated into therapy. Participants will learn how mindfulness can be used for therapist self-care, and how a clinician’s own mindfulness builds essential, relational / clinical qualities. This workshop involves both a didactic and an active, experiential learning process that serves as a clinical foundation for both practicing and teaching mindfulness in Palliative Care.

• Jerome Front, LMFT, Pepperdine University

Workshop

Where Do We Start? Preparing for Interprofessional Education in Palliative Care

• Description

  This workshop will provide methods and tools for building interprofessional faculty teams and planning interprofessional education (IPE) offerings in palliative care. A faculty team experienced in the development of a mandatory IPE curriculum in oncology palliative education will lead this interactive workshop. The definition and core competencies for IPE as a basis for designing activities and curricula, how to evaluate their own and their institution’s readiness for participation in IPE using standardized tools and an evaluation process, the importance of faculty development, and examples of activities for such development will be explored. Common barriers to IPE will be delineated and solutions offered. Methods for designing IPE activities will be presented and attendees will be able to develop a draft plan for an IPE activity by the end of the session.

• Tara Schapmire, PhD, MSSW, CSW, OSW-C, FNAP, Barbara Head, PhD, RN, CHPN, FPCN, ACSW, and Mark Pfeifer, MD, University of Louisville

Panel

Elevating Awareness of Palliative Care through Humanities

• Description

  This panel brings together colleagues from different disciplines, to explore how teaching the medical humanities can enhance the quality of student response to palliative care themes, issues, and concepts, across curricula for different student audiences. Panel members share examples of classroom discussion strategies, prompts, and assignments, demonstrating how they use the medical humanities to introduce students to topics of serious, chronic illness, mortality, and the ethics of providing care for those in need. The goal of the panel is to illustrate how classroom discussion of narrative, dramatic, and visual texts, in various mediums, can elevate the quality of student reflections on issues of embodiment, illness, aging, decline, dying, interdependence, and other features of human existence. In turn, these reflections lend greater depth and personal interest to more focused discussions of quality of life, pain and suffering, and the goals of medical, nursing, and spiritual care—concepts fundamental to the professional education of (palliative) health care providers.

• Michael McDuffie, PhD, Allison Merrick, PhD, and Marion Geiger, PhD, CSU San Marcos

Paper Session – Palliative Care Practice in Diverse Settings

Using Big Data to Trigger Palliative Care in the ICU and the Step Down Unit

• Description

  Despite the increased number of palliative care teams in the US, access to palliative care in the hospital ICU continues to be inadequate. A barrier to palliative access for these patients may be the difficulty in identifying with palliative needs using a simple method. A pilot was conducted to determine the efficacy of using the Rothman Index (RI) and a predetermined length of stay (LOS) as an automatic trigger for a palliative care consultation, and to measure outcomes for patients who receive a palliative consultation using the trigger as criteria and compare them with those who meet criteria and do not receive a palliative consultation.

• Rebecca Gagne Henderson, APRN, ACHPN, PhDc, Yale New Haven Health Systems

Comparing the Effectiveness of Strategies for Delivering Home-Based Palliative Care

• Description

  PC clinician leaders and health systems such as Kaiser Permanente, which has nearly 10 years of experience providing home-based palliative care (HBPC), need research guidance to determine how best to refine HBPC services to meet the rapidly growing demand for HBPC while preserving its effectiveness and affordability. This study compares a standard HBPC model that includes routine home visits by a nurse and provider with a more efficient tech-supported HBPC model that promotes timely inter-professional care team coordination via synchronous video consultation with the provider while the nurse is in the patient’s home.

• Huong Nguyen, PhD, RN, Jason Ngo, MD, Nicki Vithalani, MD, Kaiser Permanente

Cardiac ICU Family Members’ Opinions Regarding Common Components of Bereavement Support

• Description

  Because of the high potential of death in an intensive care unit (ICU), incorporating bereavement support is strongly recommended by critical care consensus groups. Despite these recommendations, limited research exists on what type of bereavement support is needed by cardiac ICU families. This study reports on scribe family members’ of deceased cardiac ICU patients opinions regarding common components of bereavement support, and may guide future clinical interventions to help support bereaved ICU family members.

• Alyssa Erikson, RN, PhD, CSU Monterey Bay
• Jennifer McAdam, PhD, RN, Samuel Merritt University

Advance Care Planning in a Skilled Nursing Facility: A Quality Improvement Project

• Description

  Demand for higher quality care at the end-of-life (EoL) calls for improvements in bedside nursing related to palliative care (PC) including advance care planning (ACP). A centerpiece of ACP is the completion of the Physician’s Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form. This project undertook improvement ACP activities in a large post-acute care facility located in Southern California through development and implementation of a PC-centered training program for licensed and non-licensed nurses, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention on ACP.

• Dane Shoemaker, DNP, NP-C, CSU Fullerton

11:15 am

Break

11:30 am

Innovations in Palliative Care for Older Adults: 2017 Seed Grant Awardees’ Projects

Practice Makes Perfect: Ed-Tech for Communication Skill Training Online

• Description

  Communications training/skills acquisition for providers is critical to extend high-quality Palliative Care services. Communication education is limited by the need for opportunities to practice, receive feedback and apply new skills in realistic simulations. Face-to-face communication training faces financial and logistical barriers for time, travel and space. Augmenting communication education with on-line technology allows students to practice and perfect communications skills asynchronously and receive expert/peer feedback as needed to extend education and training to more providers. This grant supported the evaluation of the feasibility, acceptability and potential effectiveness of YouSeeU™ software in PC communication training on-line.

• Lynee Sanute, MLIS, MA, and F. Amos Bailey, MD, University of Colorado Denver

Enhancing Palliative Care Knowledge Through a National Lifelong Learning Network

• Description

  Members of this project created a palliative care educational program for adults that includes a discussion and framework for advance care planning. The results of the project will be discussed.

• Brian Carpenter, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis

Developing Culturally-Based Communications Tools with African American Community Members

• Description

  The goal of this 3-phase study was to determine the feasibility of developing, implementing and delivering a culturally-based communications training program for nurses caring for southern African Americans with a serious illness. This report describes Phase 2, the development of a training program by adapting an evidence-based communication tool to fit the culturally-based preferences and values of rural Southern African Americans. This study was guided by principles of Community Based Participatory Research, a collaborative approach between academia and community, used to address health disparities.

• Ronit Elk, PhD, The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Increasing Palliative Care Within the Latino Community

• Description

  Building on prior work, this project aimed to create and deliver education to members of the Long Beach area Latino community on chronic disease, understanding medications, and getting the most out of their doctor and their life. The report will discuss the results.

• Joy Goebel, RN, MN, PhD, FPCN, and Mara Bird, PhD, MA, CSU Long Beach

Somatic Movement with Music Protocol Development and Implementation for Seniors in Hospice Care

• Description

  In this project, a program of music and exercise was created for bedridden, wheelchair, and ambulatory seniors in hospice to ease pain and improve joint motion. The report will discuss the results.

• Wendell Hanna, PhD, San Francisco State University

3 Wishes: Creating a Meaningful End-of-Life Experience in the Intensive Care Unit

• Description

  Although the intensive care unit (ICU) is where clinicians combat critical illness with advanced technology and invasive procedures, it is also frequently the location where end-of-life (EOL) care is delivered and where many families will spend their final days together. The study by Cook and colleagues, “3 Wishes,” demonstrated that a humanized death experience could be achieved in their ICU by having the clinical team elicit and implement a dying patient’s 3 final wishes. This project reports on the pilot of “3 Wishes” in the UCLA medical intensive care unit (MICU) for patients over the age of 65 and evaluates the interventions’ effect on patient and clinician satisfaction.

• Thanh Neville, MD, MSHS, University of California Los Angeles

1:00 pm

Luncheon

Symposium Presidential Address

• Karen S. Haynes, PhD, President, California State University San Marcos

Awarding of 2018 Seed Grants

• Funded by the Gary and Mary West Foundation

2:00 pm

Break

2:15 pm

Concurrent Sessions

Workshop

The Case for E-Learning in Palliative Care

• Description

  The CSU Institute for Palliative Care produces interactive courses that strive to efficiently convey the person-centered approach that is integral to palliative care. This workshop will use examples from the Institute’s courses to demonstrate the process of writing course material and how it is then translated to become interactive and meaningful online content for healthcare providers, students, and educators. Interactive features used in courses and a brief explanation of the course building process will be demonstrated, using case studies, learning activities, learning reinforcement scenarios, and review activities. Research on the efficacy and adoption of online learning, along with free and open source tools that can be used in building elearning, will be discussed. Participants will build an interactive case study in the Institute’s template, and discuss

• Jill Guffey, BA, CSU Institute for Palliative Care

Workshop

Integrating Spirituality into the Education of Palliative Care Professionals

• Description

  Spirituality is a vital ingredient in the provision of palliative care. For those educating palliative care professionals in their various disciplines, it can be challenging to integrate spirituality at the level of quality and excellence it deserves. This workshop will provide participants with a deeper understanding of the importance and demonstrated impact of spirituality on care as well as proven practical approaches to engaging expert spiritual care providers into their curriculum and clinical experiences. Using resources to equip academic educators with clarity on the standards for excellence in chaplaincy generally, and in palliative care specifically, examples of academic collaborations that are successfully integrating spiritual care will be discussed.

• Helen McNeal, BBA, CSU Institute for Palliative Care
• Trace Haythorn, PhD, Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE)
• Jamie Beachy, PhD, MDiv CSU Institute for Palliative Care

Workshop

Preparing for the Changing Expectations of Patient 2.0

• Description

  The core principles of palliative care lay the foundation for the delivery of person-centered care, yet are not routinely taught in professional education, nor well-understood by the general public. In this interactive workshop, we will discuss the changes in healthcare that are being driven by engaged, educated, and empowered patients (e-Patients), and the rise of patient experience as a measurement in healthcare. No longer are patients willing to be passive recipients of healthcare. Patient 2.0 has created an environment that changes the traditional power balance by developing previously unheard of tools and support networks for patients. Embracing this movement of patient empowerment will be discussed as a way to increase consumer awareness and accelerate public demand for palliative care.

• Judy Thomas, JD, and Kristine Wallach, Coalition for Compassionate Care of California

Workshop

Using Digital Story-telling to Make Meaning About Loss and Grief

• Description

  In this interactive workshop participants will explore digital story-telling and its application to teaching, learning, and group work of all kinds, to explore meaning-making from loss and grief through the use of this medium. Digital story-telling is a method of story-telling that expands narrative into the digital realm with select images, music, and art resulting in videos of three minutes or less. The background of digital story-telling, its use in promoting effective learning and reflective listening, and research on approaches and learning outcomes in a range of applications in teaching and learning across disciplines, software selection, copyright issues, and more, will be discussed. Resources, including rubrics and assignments related to digital story-telling as a classroom learning activity, will be included. Participants will create a single-image digital story using their own image, brought to the workshop, as part of the experimental approach to learning.

• Raeann LeBlanc, DNP, AGPCNP-BC, CHPN, and Maureen Groden, MS, RN, CHPN, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Olga Ehrlich, PhD, RN, CHPN, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Paper Session – Tailoring Palliative Care in Specific Populations

Redesigning Stroke Rehabilitation: Applying Palliative Care Concepts

• Description

  Stroke is among the leading causes of death and long-term disability in the United States, with nearly 800,000 Americans experiencing a stroke each year; an estimated 7 million Americans live with the long-term effects of a stroke. A seriously disabling consequences of stroke, aphasia, a language disorder that severely impairs communication despite the person’s intellect being spared, is insufficiently prescribed rehabilitation. This individual paper presents the design, development, and first-year outcomes of a new stroke rehabilitation program that provides stroke and brain injury survivors a higher dosing of rehabilitation which focuses on improving life participation, reducing disability, and optimizing wellbeing and quality of life of patients and their families.

• Nidhi Mahendra, PhD, San Jose State University

Changing the Culture of Pediatric Palliative Care at the Bedside

• Description

  To provide quality care at the bedside, it is necessary to engage frontline staff in the delivery of palliative care; however, nurses report a lack of knowledge and confidence in providing the essential components of palliative care. The paper describes a program that was designed to identify and train palliative care experts at the bedside, incorporating interdisciplinary provision of care, collaboration between the Palliative Care Team and unit staff, and education to train and provide ongoing support to staff.

• Susan Shields, MSN, ARNP, CPNP, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital

What’s in the Syringe?: Examining Dose in Palliative Care Psychoeducational Interventions

• Description

  Many palliative care interventions can be categorized as psychoeducational interventions, designed to influence certain behaviors. Most psychoeducational interventions are based on health behavior theories that prescribe approach, but not amount or ‘dose’ to be administered. This study identifies how ‘dose’ is a fundamental component of intervention quality and success in psychoeducational interventions, and discusses methodological and quality issues in intervention design and comparative effectiveness research.

• Rachel Wells, MSN, RN, CNL, and Marie Bakitas, DNSc, CRNP, FAAN, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Palliative Dialysis in Older Adults with ESKD

• Description

  This presentation will discuss dialysis as palliative care to achieve a goal or be present for an older adult population with ESKD. The presentation will include communication strategies regarding treatment options, symptom management, transitioning to hospice and withdrawal from dialysis. Quality process and outcome measures will be discussed. In addition, educational, practice and future research implications will be presented.

• Debra Hain, PhD, ARNP, AGPCNP-BC, FAANP, FNKF, Florida Atlantic University

3:30 pm

Break

3:45 pm

Closing Keynote

Strengthening the Palliative Care Tapestry with the Essential Threads of Culture and Diversity

• Description

  In this year’s closing plenary gathering, Dr. Bakitas will weave together the threads of the conference theme, quality in education, research and practice, with the threads of her own work, which for the span of her career has been the embodiment of the symposium’s theme. She will describe essential elements of quality in palliative care education, research, and practice, offer innovative methods to ensure representation of diverse populations in palliative care, and share with attendees her thoughts on the work that remains to be done to extend palliative care everywhere.

• Marie Bakitas, DNSc, NP-C, FAAN, Professor, Marie L. O’Koren Endowed Chair, School of Nursing, and Associate Director, Center for Palliative and Supportive Care, University of Alabama at Birmingham

4:45 pm

Closing Remarks

5:00 pm

Adjourn