Training All Clinicians in Essential Communication and Symptom Management Skills
Last Reviewed: March 4, 2019
How can you ensure access to palliative care services for all patients when budgets are tight and specialty-trained providers are scarce?
Improving care quality for people living with a serious illness is everybody’s job. It requires an organizational commitment to train all clinicians in core skills, including communication, pain and symptom management, and caregiver support.
Use this toolkit to make the case for training, identify training groups, and build training pathways.
What’s in the Toolkit
The Case for Communication and Symptom Management Training
The Case for Improving Communication and Symptom Management Skills
This publication makes the case for training both palliative care and nonpalliative care specialists in communication and symptom management skills. Training in these skills results in measurably better quality of care, improved patient and family experience, and more time spent at home and out of hospitals.
downloadCAPC Curriculum
Courses for clinicians from all specialties, including CE for all disciplines. Free for CAPC members.
CAPC Curriculum - Continuing Education Credits Overview
Course catalog for CAPC's clinical training curriculum. Onboard new palliative care team members using standardized training, or train non-palliative care specialists in core skills. All courses provide continuing education credits for all disciplines and are free for CAPC members.
downloadOnline Clinical Training Courses For All Clinicians
Online training curriculum for all specialties and disciplines to strengthen their care of patients living with serious illness. Free continuing education credits for all, and physicians receive ABIM MOC points for select courses.
viewPain Management
Training and clinical tools for managing pain in patients living with serious illness, with a focus on safe opioid prescribing and risk assessment for opioid substance use disorder.
viewCommunication Skills
Techniques for communicating with patients and families about their serious illness and eliciting patient hopes, fears, and priorities for care.
viewSymptom Management
Training curriculum and clinical tools for assessing and managing five common symptoms in patients living with serious illness.
viewPreventing Crises Through Whole-Patient Care
Supporting family caregivers and ensuring seamless coordination of care.
viewRelief of Suffering Across the Disease Trajectory
Addressing factors that contribute to quality of life for people with serious illness and their families.
viewManaging Gaps in Care: Discipline-Specific Approaches
Connecting people with serious illness to needed services and supports.
viewBest Practices in Dementia Care and Caregiver Support
Strategies to alleviate suffering and improve quality of life for people living with dementia and their caregivers.
viewTraining by Specialty or Discipline
Suggested training pathways based on specialty, discipline, and patient population.
Courses by Other Specialties and Disciplines
The following toolkits contain recommended courses and tools for nonpalliative care specialties and/or roles. CAPC's online courses provide free CE credits for all staff at member organizations, and ABIM MOC points for physicians.
viewImplementing a Training Program
Transforming the way we care for patients and families living with serious illness takes organizational commitment and planning. Develop a strategy to train all clinicians in critical skills, including communication and symptom management, for best care of people with serious illness.
CAPC Curriculum - Continuing Education Credits Overview
Course catalog for CAPC's clinical training curriculum. Onboard new palliative care team members using standardized training, or train non-palliative care specialists in core skills. All courses provide continuing education credits for all disciplines and are free for CAPC members.
downloadTraining All Clinicians in Core Palliative Care Skills
In this Virtual Office Hour, ask questions about training clinicians from all specialties in communication, pain and symptom management, and supporting family caregivers.Topics include training strategies, CAPC’s CE curriculum, and other training methods!
registerDesignation Competencies Checklist
A checklist of clinical competencies taught in CAPC units on pain management, symptom management, communication skills, and dementia care.
downloadThe John A. Hartford Foundation Tipping Point Challenge
The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) has announced the Tipping Point Challenge to launch a national effort, Project Tipping Point, to expand patient access to the principles and practices of palliative care.
viewImproving Value in a Large Health System by Transforming the Care of People Living with Serious Illness: A Case Study from Trinity Health System
Trinity Health's journey to expand access to specialty palliative care across settings, and train all clinicians to identify and address sources of suffering for patients with serious illness.
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Training Hospice Clinicians Using CAPC's Online Curriculum
A case study from Bluegrass Care Navigators.
members loginTraining Your Colleagues: Three Case Studies for Building Palliative Care Skills Across the Organization
Education Techniques in Palliative Care: A Self-Study Tutorial
Self-study tutorial on teaching methods in palliative care.
members login
Sample Proposal for a Training Pilot
Customizable proposal to leadership to conduct a clinical training pilot using CAPC courses.
members loginFast Facts and Concepts
Concise, practical, peer-reviewed and evidence-based summaries on topics important to clinicians and trainees caring for seriously ill patients. Use Fast Facts to onboard staff and for ongoing team education.
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