This course starts you on your journey of integrating primary palliative care into your daily lives. You will learn what palliative care is, how to communicate with patients, show empathy, and practice difficult conversations. You will learn how to screen for distress and provide psychosocial support. You will learn about goals of care and advance care planning and how to improve your success with having these conversations with patients. Finally, you will explore important cultural considerations and improve your cultural competency on the topics covered.
Offered By
About this Course
This course is designed for anyone interested in palliative care and contains optional deep dives on key content for clinicians and social workers.
What you will learn
Define the scope of palliative care and the roles of primary and specialist teams in comprehensive care for patients and families
Explain the components of an interdisciplinary patient treatment plan that includes physical, emotional, social and spiritual care
Discuss basic strategies for addressing psychosocial and relationship concerns in the context of serious illness
Engage in goals of care and advance care planning discussions with patients and families
Skills you will gain
This course is designed for anyone interested in palliative care and contains optional deep dives on key content for clinicians and social workers.
Offered by

Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is an American private research university located in Stanford, California on an 8,180-acre (3,310 ha) campus near Palo Alto, California, United States.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Course Introduction and Overview
Welcome! Palliative Care Always is about optimizing quality of life at any stage of disease. This course, Essentials of Palliative Care, is rooted in the belief that incorporating the principles of palliative care into clinical practice can improve the quality of life for our patients and their support systems (including clinicians!). A team of Stanford faculty and staff designed this course to educate you about palliative care. Together, you will learn how it intersects with treating serious illness, and how palliative care skills can help improve quality of life for patients, families and providers. Our hope is that you will feel increasingly equipped to support the diverse needs of patients with serious illness.
Introduction to Palliative Care
This module focuses on what palliative care is, the roles of the care team and the difference between primary and speciality palliative care.
Communicating with Patients
Discussing difficult news is always a challenge for a variety of reasons. In this module, we will cover methods you can use to make these conversations more successful.
Psychosocial Distress
Most families living with cancer will experience some form of emotional, psychological or social distress. This may exist as episodes of grief or anxiety at specific points such as diagnosis or progression, or it may be a more chronic experience that has an ongoing impact on relationships and day-to-day life.
Goals of Care & Advanced Directives
Goals of cancer care are often associated with prolonging life or preparing for the end of life. However, goals of care conversations identify wishes and values that guide every medical decision and help patients and families live the best life possible at every phase of care.
Self-Care
Healthcare providers, in general, make a life of being attentive to and providing resources for people during times of illness and suffering. This type of work, while essential and rewarding, undoubtedly bears its cost in work-related stress, burnout and fatigue. The response to internal and external stress is a key influencer on wellbeing.
Final Steps
Congratulations on completing the course content. You have a few more step to complete the course. First review your reflection, next complete a peer-reviewed course project and then take the final exam. We hope you have enjoyed the course and look forward to seeing you in other classes!
About the Palliative Care Always Specialization
Palliative Care Always is a specialization for health care practitioners, patients and caregivers. We’ve designed this specialization to demonstrate how palliative medicine integrates with patient care, and to help you develop primary palliative care skills. Over the next five courses, you will develop skills in symptom management, goals of care and effective communication to improve the quality of life for patients and families suffering with serious illness. Our hope is that you feel increasingly equipped to support the diverse needs of your patients and your own needs.

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