Innovations In Cancer And Palliative Care Education

This work includes Foreword by Nigel Sykes, Medical Director, St Christopher's Hospice, London. This practical, evidence-based guide has been specifically designed for teachers in cancer and palliative care. It is completely up-to-date and covers the recent complex changes in cancer and palliative care delivery, offering a range of different, creative approaches. Ideal for training, the text includes highlighted key points, self help questions for reflection, and references where applicable. It provides invaluable guidance for all healthcare professionals with palliative care teaching responsibilities, including undergraduate and postgraduate healthcare educators and Macmillan lecturers. '[This] book gives us a three-dimensional view of how to respond to the demands on cancer and palliative care education today, set particularly in a British context but, of course, capable of extrapolation to other settings. These three dimensions of innovation can be summarised as: What do you teach? How do you teach it? To whom do you teach it? Innovation in all three aspects simultaneously may be difficult to achieve, but all who have a responsibility for education are faced with the challenges of making their teaching more effective (and demonstrating that they have done so), keeping abreast of advancing knowledge and clinical practice, and of reaching out to groups of learners who hitherto have been neglected. Of significant help to anyone in this field whose concern is the delivery of effective and appropriate education.' - Nigel Sykes, in the Foreword.

Illuminating the Diversity of Cancer and Palliative Care Education examines a myriad of original approaches, techniques, methods, educational strategies and imaginative innovations within this vital field of medicine. Its contributors share a range of educational techniques and tactics from Neuro-Linguistic Programming to creative teaching strategies for bereavement support, allowing readers to reflect on best practice and inventive ways of working which can be used or adapted to suit. This book is an ideal companion to its sister volumes Innovations in Cancer and Palliative Care Education and Delivering Cancer and Palliative Care Education.

Despite the fact that most palliative care educators are involved in teaching, there is little literature devoted to education specifically within palliative care. This book bridges that gap, giving a wide-ranging, global view of palliative care education. It offers theoretical and practical insights, along with specific suggestions for developing knowledge and skills for teaching. It also contains extensive accounts of important contextual matters which influence the range and quality of palliative care education, including: interprofessional learning; continuing professional development; evaluation; and educational leadership. The development of palliative care as a clinical speciality is increasingly conducted at an international level, and a special feature of this book is the inclusion of chapters reviewing palliative care education in each continent. This enables practitioners and teachers to share knowledge across diverse healthcare systems and cultures. There is also an acknowledgement of the multi-professional team involved in palliative care, as education and training are looked at from the perspectives of doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals. The book is split into three distinct parts: Part 1 - sets the scene for existing palliative care education, both in the UK and internationally. Part 2 - focuses on the theory underpinning each aspect of teaching, learning and assessment, and then examines the practicalities of delivering these in the clinical setting. Part 3 - explores ways of building and nurturing a culture of learning in palliative care, whether as an individual or as an organization.

The quality of cancer and palliative care is going through unprecedented change and development as a result of policy initiatives. The impact of these policies on education is unparalleled and it is essential that clinicians and educationalists are aware of the policy formation processes and educational strategies that meet the demands of these changing times. This book takes a holistic approach to patient care and draws on the diverse experience in hospices and highlights best practice to present a comprehensive and practical guide. However, it does more. New topics are given an educational perspective; those with limited educational experience are given sound advice; the implication of policy change is outlined. This is an important book and one which should be read by all clinicians, educators and managers responsible for improving services in cancer and palliative care.

This book is designed to provide a comprehensive insight unto the key and most prevalent contemporary issues associated with palliation. The reader will find viewpoints that are challenging and sometimes discerning, but at the same time motivating and thought-provoking in the care of persons requiring palliation. This book is divided into three sections. Section 1 examines contemporary practice; Section 2 looks at the challenges in practice; Section 3 discusses models of care. This book is an excellent resource for students, practising clinicians and academics. By reading the book, reflecting on the issues, challenges and opportunities ahead, we hope it will create within the reader a passion to take on, explore and further develop their palliative care practice.

Palliative care provides comprehensive support for severely affected patients with any life-limiting or life-threatening diagnosis. To do this effectively, it requires a disease-specific approach as the patients’ needs and clinical context will vary depending on the underlying diagnosis. Experts in the field of palliative care and oncology describe in detail the needs of patients with advanced cancer in comparison to those with non-cancer disease and also identify the requirements of patients with different cancer entities. Basic principles of symptom control are explained, with careful attention to therapy for pain associated with either the cancer or its treatment and to symptom-guided antineoplastic therapy. Complex therapeutic strategies for palliative cancer patients are highlighted that involve both cancer- and symptom-directed options and address a range of therapeutic aims. Issues relating to drug use in palliative cancer care are fully explored, and a separate section is devoted to care in the final phase. A range of organizational and policy issues are also discussed, and the book concludes by considering likely future developments in palliative care for cancer patients. Palliative Care in Oncology will be of particular interest to palliative care physicians who are interested in broadening the scope of their disease-specific knowledge, as well as to oncologists who wish to learn more about modern palliative care concepts relevant to their day-to-day work with cancer patients.

In our society's aggressive pursuit of cures for cancer, we have neglected symptom control and comfort care. Less than one percent of the National Cancer Institute's budget is spent on any aspect of palliative care research or education, despite the half million people who die of cancer each year and the larger number living with cancer and its symptoms. Improving Palliative Care for Cancer examines the barriersâ€"scientific, policy, and socialâ€"that keep those in need from getting good palliative care. It goes on to recommend public- and private-sector actions that would lead to the development of more effective palliative interventions; better information about currently used interventions; and greater knowledge about, and access to, palliative care for all those with cancer who would benefit from it.