The PCLC curriculum addresses issues relevant to each stage of palliative care program development:

• Structural,
• Organizational, and
• Financial.
  

Each module below describes a facet of PCLC curriculum.

Module 1: Systems Assessment & Mission Alignment

Module 2: Clinical Models & Staffing

Module 3: Financial Case & Sustainability

Module 4: Measurement

Module 5: Internal Marketing

Module 6: Community Partnerships

Module 7: Palliative Care Education

Module 8: Program Implementation

Not all topics will be covered at all training sessions. Some content may be addressed in pre-training "homework" exercises, and some may be addressed during the year long post-training mentoring period.

If you are scheduled for PCLC training and have certain topics you'd like to focus on during the session, please feel free to discuss those needs with your PCLC contact person.

• Identify palliative care program stakeholders (patients, families, hospital staff, administration community groups) and their priorities for the program
• Develop metrics to identify current unmet patient-care and provider needs at site visitor's institution: clinical evaluation, patient volume, and staffing
• Develop strategies to engage key groups of stakeholders for impact on program goals

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• Understand the pros and cons of different of palliative care programs
• Understand reasonable staffing patterns for inpatient palliative care units, consultation services, and outpatient clinics
• Understand the finances of staffing a unit, and the cost of the care delivered to patients
• Understand the impact of local variations

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• Identify the building blocks for "making the case" for palliative care
• Understand the relationship between operational data (related to planned palliative care services) and financial data (related to potential needs and impact)
• Identify tools to assist in the development of the financial case and ongoing measurement
• Know how to ask for financial help

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• Understand which elements are important to capture and track in a hospital-based palliative care database
• Identify resources available to locate and track:
  • Dates of service
  • Patient/family demographic information
  • Pain and symptom management clinical outcomes
  • Financial outcomes
  • Satisfaction
• Understand methods to effectively demonstrate data

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• Identify reasons why clinicians are reluctant to utilize palliative care services
• Identify tension points to aid in marketing palliative care services to clinicians
• Develop an internal marketing strategy the includes outreach to physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and others
• Identify physicians and other institutional leaders who will champion the program
• Identify strategies for communicating with patients and families about the program
• Understand options for institutionalizing palliative care within the hospital medical and nursing staff committee structure

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• Understand the types of community programs and services needed by patients/families seen in a hospital-based palliative care program
• Identify community agencies that can provide services in partnership with a palliative care program
• Create a draft organizational chart, including relationships with institutional partners
• Develop a strategy for building sustaining relationships with community partners that recognize competitive or collaborative forces
• Identify organizational, legal, and operational structure options for partnerships
• Develop communication and process strategies to address continuity of care

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• Identify pros and cons of four different education training formats for palliative care content (e.g. lectures, small group, self-study, role play)
• Review existing educational materials available for staff, patient and family education
• Develop a one-year educational Action Plan, outlining strategies for staff, patient and family education

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• Identify common barriers to program implementation
• Identify resources to help overcome barriers to program implementation
• Develop a timeline for palliative care program implementation, identify one month, three month, six month goals, and Action Steps
• Develop a process to review performance measures and develop action plans to improve program effectiveness

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• Sign up for PCLC Training!
• More on PCLC Training, Mentoring and Tuition Fees
• See What People are Saying about PCLC Training
• PCLC Curriculum Overview
• Frequently Asked Questions
• PCLC Brochure
• Contact the PCLCs