Palliative care is an approach to the care of people living with serious illness and their families that focuses on reducing suffering through symptom management, psychosocial support, and planning for the future.

There is increasing evidence that palliative care can improve outcomes for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). While some aspects of palliative care require formal training (specialist palliative care), many aspects can and should be provided by non-palliative care specialists (primary palliative care) such as neurologists and other professionals who provide care for people with PD.

The goals of this course are to introduce members of the interprofessional team, to the principles of palliative care, to demonstrate how these principles can be applied within the context of interprofessional care for people with PD, and to provide suggestions on how palliative care can be integrated into existing frameworks of care for people with PD.

Topics covered in this course include serious illness communication strategies, complex symptom management (pain), goals of care and advance planning, spiritual wellbeing and difficult emotions, dementia, care partner assessment and support, self-care for providers, and end-of-life care.

This comprehensive, 11-hour course is divided into 10 Chapters.

Syllabus

Chapter One
Introduction to Neuropalliative Care
90 Minutes

Chapter Two
Important Conversations: Serious Illness Communication
60 Minutes

Chapter Three
Complex Symptom Management (Pain)
60 Minutes

Chapter Four
Goals of Care and Advance Care Planning
90 Minutes

Chapter Five
Self-Care: Making our Caregiving Sustainable
60 Minutes

Chapter Six
Spiritual Wellbeing and Difficult Emotions
60 Minutes

Chapter Seven
Caregiver Assessment and Support
60 Minutes

Chapter Eight
Dementia and Behavioral Issues
60 Minutes

Chapter Nine
End-of-Life Care
60 Minutes

Chapter Ten
Bringing It All Together
60 Minutes

For a comprehensive list of Palliative Care Resources, click here.

This course was originally developed as part of a project to implement primary palliative care across US Parkinson’s Foundation Centers of Excellence (COE). References are made to the original project in the course content and by speakers throughout this course.

Target Audience

This activity is designed to meet the educational needs of:

Physicians
Physician Assistants
Nurse Practitioners
Nurses
Social Workers

Learning Objectives

At the end of this activity, learners will be able to:

Have the foundational knowledge and skills essential to Palliative Care (PC)
Use PC approaches as appropriate for their specific interprofessional roles within the COE
Know strategies to address barriers, identify opportunities, and work as part of an interprofessional team to implement PC

This training was funded through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute® (PCORI®) Implementation Award (DI-2019C2-17499). The views, statements, and opinions presented in this presentation are solely the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Patient- Centered Outcomes Research Institute® (PCORI®), its Board of Governors or Methodology Committee.

Course summary

Available credit:

1.00 Completion

Course opens:

11/01/2022

Course expires:

06/30/2026

Rating:

Disclosures

Parkinson’s Foundation adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity, including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (commercial interests). All relevant conflicts of interest have been mitigated prior to the commencement of the activity.

Faculty Member(s)

Available Credit

1.00 Completion

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Team-Based Palliative Care Essentials for Parkinson’s Disease