Practical Aspects of Palliative Care:
Integrating Palliative Care into
Clinical Practice
October 12-14, 2012
Royal Sonesta Hotel, Cambridge, MA
Development of this course was supported in part by an educational grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Information Schedule Registration Faculty
Course Description
This 2-1⁄2-day course is designed to offer physicians and other clinicians the information and skills needed to provide high quality, specialist-level palliative care to patients with life-threatening illnesses in a variety of practice settings.Through plenary sessions and workshops, participants will develop a toolbox of palliative care competencies and will learn from colleagues facing similar practice challenges.
The course will address the assessment and management of physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and existential sources of suffering experienced by patients and their families.
Sessions also focus on cultural issues, communication, prognostication, bereavement, management of various non-oncological conditions, the special needs of patients at various stages of the life cycle, and ethical, legal, and practical issues in the setting of advanced illness. Recent research in palliative care will also be included.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:
Assess and manage the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual/existential causes of distress in patients with life-limiting diseases and their families.
Develop practical strategies for introducing discussions of patient fears, hopes, goals, and wishes for care at the end of life, including use of life-sustaining technology, balancing hope and honesty in discussing treatment options, and dealing with the ethical issues that arise at the end of life.
Cultivate approaches to working with diverse patient populations (e.g., pediatrics, geriatrics) different diseases (e.g., heart failure, pulmonary disease,dementia), challenging scenarios (e.g., withholding fluids and nutrition at the end of life, addiction, palliative sedation, "difficult" patients and families, talking with children about death), and various settings (e.g., long-term care, intensive care unit).
Who Should Attend?
We invite all physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and chaplains who work with patients and families near the end of life to attend this course.
ACGME Competencies
This course is designed to meet one or more of the following Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education competencies:
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Patient care
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Medical knowledge
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Practice-based learning and improvement
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Interpersonal and communication skills
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Professionalism
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Systems-based practice