Category Archives: Advance Planning

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.

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.

5/19+ 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 at 2 pm PDT.   Find more information, recordings of past Quickinars, and register for current presentations at https://esrdncc.org/quickinars:
    • Tuesday May 19, 2020 patient Quickinar on Caregiving During COVID-19: Tips from Kidney Caregivers, presented by a caregiver and a Network Patient Services Director.
    • Wednesday May 20, 2020 provider Quickinar on What to Do and Say to Support Psychological Safety During the COVID-19 Pandemic, presented by a nurse who uses “a human-centered co-design approach [as] she works with healthcare leaders to generate flourishing cultures and exceptional outcomes by integrating patient/family experience, quality, safety, and joy in work.”

5/12+ 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 at 2 pm PDT.   Find more information, recordings of past Quickinars, and register for current presentations at https://esrdncc.org/quickinars:
    • May 12, 2020 patient Quickinar on Preparing for a Kidney Transplant During the COVID-19 Pandemic, presented by a patient and a Transplant Coordinator.
    • May 13, 2020 provider Quickinar on Pathways to Increase Nephrologist Comfort Managing Home Dialysis Patients During COVID-19, presented by a nephrologist.
  • We haven’t heard from CMS yet, so evidently these are no longer being held: CMS Stakeholder Engagement Call for Dialysis Providers at 2:30 pm PDT May 13, 2020, call 833-614-0820, passcode <coming soon?>, audio webcast link <coming soon?>.  The bare registration portal, and the email verifying your registration, appear to be named “Lessons COVID Dialysis.”

5/12+ 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 at 2 pm PDT.   Find more information, recordings of past Quickinars, and register for current presentations at https://esrdncc.org/quickinars:
    • May 12, 2020 patient Quickinar on Preparing for a Kidney Transplant During the COVID-19 Pandemic, presented by a patient and a Transplant Coordinator.
    • May 13, 2020 provider Quickinar on Pathways to Increase Nephrologist Comfort Managing Home Dialysis Patients During COVID-19, presented by a nephrologist.
  • CMS Stakeholder Engagement Call for Dialysis Providers at 2:30 pm PDT May 13, 2020, call 833-614-0820, passcode <coming soon>, audio webcast link <coming soon>.  The bare registration portal, and the email verifying your registration, appear to be named “Lessons COVID Dialysis.”

4/29 COVID-19 Patient Advance Planning Webinar

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The California Department of Aging will present an April 29, 2020, 1pm PDT webinar for patients and the general public on Essential Conversations: Planning for Care and Serious Illness During the COVID Crisis.  Join by phone or computer.  For details and registration see https://mailchi.mp/coalitionccc.org/no-one-should-die-alone-on-the-street-745960?e=67e1ad4c31.

4/29+ COVID-19 Weekly Wednesday Webinars

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

  • ESRD NCC half-hour “Quickinars” for providers and patients at 2 pm PDT – The April 29 patient Quickinar will be on Remaining Connected While Practicing Social Distancing, presented by two patient advocates.  The provider Quickinar is on Optimal Transition of Patients into Home Dialysis in the COVID-19 Era, led by two nephrologists.  Find more information, recordings of past Quickinars, and register for current presentations at https://esrdncc.org/quickinars.

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/.

4/8+ CCCC COVID Conversations

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The Coalition for Compassionate Care of California will hold it’s first free COVID Conversations and Patient-Centered Care webinar April 8, 2020, on the subject of Medical Decision Making In The Face Of Serious Illness.  Judy Thomas, JD, CEO of CCCC and Karl Steinberg, MD, Medical Director of Hospice by the Sea, will present, and explain the importance of conversations with patients on advance care planning and POLST in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.  Find more information and register at https://mailchi.mp/coalitionccc.org/no-one-should-die-alone-on-the-street-745848.  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, wherein Ms. Thomas explains the difference between POLST and Advance Directives, and recommends specific actions.  Find that at https://coalitionccc.org/2020/04/covid-19-conversation-toolkit/.  They imply that this is the first of many, but they don’t specify how many or how often.

NW18 8/9 POLST Survey

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The Coalition for Compassionate Care of California is conducting a survey to better understand the level of interest and engagement in a state-wide electronic Registry of Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST).  POLST is a form that gives seriously-ill patients more control over their end-of-life care, including medical treatment, extraordinary measures (such as a ventilator or feeding tube) and CPR.  Printed on bright pink paper, and signed by both a patient and physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant, POLST can prevent unwanted or ineffective treatments, reduce patient and family suffering, and ensure that a patient’s wishes are honored.  Since it’s designed to be readily available to all healthcare practitioners in any setting or circumstance, electronic availability would promote its purpose.  For more information and a sample of the California form, see https://capolst.org/.  Take the survey, if possible before August 9, 2019, at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3XC2PGX.