Pain Management and Palliative Care (Faculty Toolkit)
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, School of Osteopathic Medicine
This DVD is designed as a "tool kit" for health professions faculty of multiple disciplines that can be downloaded or used for screen or web-based presentation. Modules are narrated and can be downloaded to an iPod. Five (5) modules include: Module I - Difficult Decisions at the End of Life; Module II - Pain Management in the Elderly; Module III - Palliative Care and the Role of Hospice; Module IV - The Final Hours: Symptom Management and the Dying Process; and Module V - The Final Hours: Acknowledging Cultural Diversity. Pre/post-test evaluations, citations/reference lists, sample test questions, and a case study that highlights the Interdisciplinary Approach to Pain Management in the Geriatric Patient, with accompanying questions and key discussion points, are also included.
Provide health professions faculty with teaching "tools" on interdisciplinary, culturally sensitive approaches and therapeutic interventions in providing palliative care and pain management for the elderly.
At the end of Module I, Difficult Discussions at the End of Life, learners should be able to:
- Know why the communication of bad news is important
- Understand the 6-step protocol for delivering bad news
- Discuss 3 different circumstances in which bad news is delivered
At the end of Module II, Pain Management in the Elderly, learners should be able to:
- Recognize the prevalence of pain in the elderly
- Be familiar with two pathophysiologic types of pain and common causes of each in the elderly
- Understand the challenges to assessment of pain in the older patient
- Be able to recommend pharmacologic treatment to older patients
At the end of Module III, Palliative Care and the Role of Hospice, learners should be able to:
- Define Palliative Care
- Distinguish Palliative Care from Hospice Care
- Identify alternatives to aggressive care in patients with end stage medical conditions
- Describe the role of the physician as a member of the interdisciplinary team in End of Life Care
At the end of Module IV, The Final Hours: Symptom Management and the Dying Process, learners should be able to:
- Describe the pathophysiology of dying
- Review the impact of personal, cultural, religious beliefs and rituals in the dying process
- Discuss symptom management at the end of life
- Assess and manage acute and initial grief reactions in families and caregivers
- Discuss the tasks of grieving and role of the interdisciplinary team in providing support to families
At the end of Module V, The Final Hours: Acknowledging Cultural Diversity, learners should be able to:
- Acknowledge the impact of personal beliefs, cultural and religious implications and rituals in the dying process
- Define loss and understand the nature of loss
- Discuss the role of the interdisciplinary team before, during and after loss
Materials were used by medical school faculty and presented to more than 500 medical students, residents, dietitians, nurses, social workers, faculty of multiple disciplines, and health administrators from ambulatory, acute, and long term care settings. Learning occurred during Grand Rounds sessions, faculty development sessions, and in classroom lecture sessions. Grand Rounds were video-conferenced to multiple sites. The product is designed as a teaching "tool kit" for use by health professions faculty of multiple disciplines. It contains 5 modules on aspects of palliative care and pain management that are narrated PowerPoint presentations, each with lecture notes, pre/post-test evaluation tools, and sample test questions. An interdisciplinary case study on pain management in the geriatric patient, with questions and key discussion points is included. The materials can be used on the web, viewed on the computer or narrative versions of the PowerPoint presentations downloaded to iPod. Each module can be used individually, for self-guided instruction, if the faculty member makes them available to learners. An extensive list of resources and web links is provided.