Category Archives: Communication

Free Online CSU Palliative Care Courses

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The California State University Shiley Institute for Palliative Care has removed fees from 19 of their online palliative care courses until June 30, 2020, in order to help make healthcare workers better prepared for the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic.  The courses include continuing education credit.  Their many offerings are grouped into these categories:

  • Introduction to Palliative Care Principles and Practice
  • Advance Care Planning and Documentation
  • Difficult Conversations and Communication Skills
  • Crisis Intervention and Management
  • Primary Palliative Care
  • Self-Care for Frontline Clinicians
  • Additional Resources – eBooks

Find more information at https://csupalliativecare.org/covid-19-resources/?mc_cid=6ff90d657e&mc_eid=67e1ad4c31.

New NCC Kidney Patient Web Hub

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NCC has created an internet “hub” for patient education information, their ESRD NCC Patient Web Tool, to help people find resources created by patients for patients.  It’s major subsections include COVID-19. transplant, home dialysis, infection prevention, well-being, new patient information, and the Kidney Community Emergency Response Coalition or KCER.  Find it at https://thekidneyhub.org/.

5/26+ COVID-19 Weekly Webinars

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A number of organizations are hosting weekly webinars on COVID-19.  These include:

  • ESRD NCC half-hour “Quickinars” for providers and patients.   Find more information, recordings of past Quickinars, and register for current presentations at https://esrdncc.org/quickinars:
      • Tuesday May 26, 2020 patient Quickinar on Combating Uncertainty and Fear in the COVID-19 Era (En Español), presented by a PD patient, Network Ambassador, and patient and family engagement SME.  She will share how Spanish-speaking patients are coping with fears surrounding COVID-19, and Provide links to COVID-19 information in Spanish.
      • Wednesday May 27, 2020 provider Quickinar on COVID-19 Communication – Quick Tips to Connect, presented by the Director of Outreach and Development for the non-profit Academy of Communication in Healthcare, Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Patient Experience, and Assistant Clinical Professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

RSN Podcasts on Hospitalization, Emotional Balance

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RSN KidneyTalk has published two new podcasts on:

5/21+ CCCC COVID Conversations Webinars

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The Coalition for Compassionate Care of California will hold it’s next free COVID Conversations and Patient-Centered Care webinar May 21, 2020, on the subject of CCCC Decision Aids, Ventilators, CPR, Transfers, And Comfort Care.  Find details and register at https://mailchi.mp/coalitionccc.org/no-one-should-die-alone-on-the-street-746012?e=67e1ad4c31.

Upcoming weekly sessions will be announced at https://coalitionccc.org/covid-conversations-education/, and recordings of earlier sessions can be found there.  CCCC also provides a COVID Conversations Toolbox at https://coalitionccc.org/covid-conversations-toolbox/, with conversation tools, forms and resources on advance directives and POLST, and links to COVID-19 resources and news updates.  They also have a blog post on The Vital Importance of Advance Care Planning Amid COVID-19, which explains the difference between POLST and Advance Directives, and recommends specific actions.  Find that at https://coalitionccc.org/2020/04/covid-19-conversation-toolkit/.

4/6 CDC Crisis Communication Webinars

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We apologize for being about six months late on this, but we didn’t discover it till today.

The CDC Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) program deals with communication in emergencies.  CERC trainings are based on lessons learned during public health emergencies, evidence-based practices from the fields of risk and crisis communication, and psychology.  The CERC trainings are offered in online, webinar, and in-person formats.

We’ve missed the webinar that they offered this morning on CERC Overview for COVID-19, but the slides are available, they look excellent, and reviewing them will take less time than the webinar would have.  Find them at https://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/training/webinar_20200406.asp.  They will post video and transcript within a week.

Recordings of previous webinars include Introduction to Crisis & Emergency Risk Communication, Psychology of a Crisis, Messages & Audiences, Community Engagement, Spokesperson, Communication Channels, and Zika CERC Discussions.  Find these at https://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/training/archives.asp?deliveryName=USCDC_964-DM25112.

1/29 CDC Emergency Communications Webinar

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CDC’s Emergency Partners Information Connection (EPIC) will present a 29 January, 2020 webinar on Communication Partnerships for Public Health Emergencies.  Topics will include how to plan and build partnerships, how to make partnerships mutually beneficial, and how to work with partners to share information with the people who need it most.  Getting life-saving information to the people who are hardest to reach often requires knowing which intermediaries can do the job.  For more information and registration, see https://emergency.cdc.gov/epic/learn/webinar_20200129.asp.

10/23 CDC Webinar on Communication

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CDC will present an October 23, 2019 webinar on Overcoming Message Resistance.  During public safety emergencies, community leaders and emergency responders share advice that they believe will help reduce harm and save lives.  People often receive and understand these messages but don’t take the “recommended” actions.  The industry jargon for this is “message resistance.”  While the webinar is about emergency communication, is message resistance really any different from the instruction given to patients every day by doctors and nurses, who refer to this tendency as non-adherence, nee noncompliance?  This webinar uses communication science, behavioral science, and the experience of emergency responders to share best practices for overcoming message resistance.  Find more information and register at https://emergency.cdc.gov/epic/learn/webinar_20191023.asp.

5/8-12 NKF Spring Clinical Meetings, Boston

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The National Kidney Foundation 2019 Spring Clinical Meetings (SCM19) present a unique opportunity for renal health care providers to learn new developments related to all aspects of nephrology.  An important objective of SCM19 is to present the latest insights into CKD care through a combination of interesting courses, practical workshops, thought-provoking symposia and insightful debates.  SCM19 will be held May 8-12, 2019 in Boston MA.  In-person registration is allowed, but many registration fees are discounted if you register online before May 6.

Extra-cost pre-conference course topics on May 8 include dialysis success, vascular access, ultrasound, supportive care, and updates on new developments in transplant, critical care, and glomerular disease.  Topics for extra-cost lunch workshops during the conference will include vascular access, electrolytes, hyponatremia, glomerular disease, reproductive health, hypertension, communication, and board review.  For those unable to attend in person, live-streamed conference sessions will be available on burnout, obesity, safety, fluid management, opioids, social media, diabetes, community, lifestyle interventions, palliative care, and KDOQI update.

For more information and registration, see https://www.kidney.org/spring-clinical.

NW16 5/16+ CNSW Educational Conference

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The CNSW Northwest Chapter will hold their Spring 2019 Educational Conference in Issaquah WA May 16-17, 2019.  Topics include self care, low mood, depression, rage, despair, suicide, and involuntary discharge.  Find Conference details and registration by check at https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/nwrn.org/files/CNSW/CNSW0519.Brochure.pdf, and registration by credit card at https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/nwrn.org/files/CNSW/CNSW0519.Register.pdf.  Registration must be postmarked by May 10, 2019.