Category Archives: Decision-Making (Staff)

8/23+ Late August Events

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  • August 23-September 1, 2022: CMS National Training Program Webinars. Details and Registration at https://cmsnationaltrainingprogram.cms.gov/moodle/login/index.php:
    • August 23 – Medicare Scenarios (Casework Session)
    • August 24 – CMS and SAMHSA: Federal Partners addressing Behavioral Health
    • August 25 – Medicare Plan Finder
    • August 30 – Medicare Current Topics
    • August 31 – The Public Health Emergency (PHE) and CMS Programs
    • September 1 – Marketplace to Medicare: What You Can Expect

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.

2/18+ Pediatric Palliative Care Webinars

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The Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition has announced their 2020 webinar program, with presentations on:

  • February 18, 2020 – Burnout! Can Compassion Fatigue?
  • March 12, 2020 – Spirituality in Children and Families Facing Serious Illness
  • April 21, 2020 – Together in the Sandbox: Palliative Care and Complex Care Partnerships in the Medical Neighborhood
  • May 21, 2020 – Guiding Families to Mindfulness Supports Decision Making for Adults & Children
  • June 16, 2020 – Ethical Questions in Pediatric Palliative Care
  • July 21, 2020 – Beyond Fairytale Endings: Using Storybooks and other therapeutic tools to Explain Death and Dying to Children
  • August 20, 2020 – Pediatric Concurrent Care
  • September 22, 2020 – Explaining Pain: Pain Education and Mind-Body Tools for Pediatric Chronic Pain
  • October 22, 2020 – Through the Eyes of a Grieving Child
  • November 17, 2020 – Partnering with Funeral Professionals to Support Families Following the Death of A Child

For details and registration, see https://mailchi.mp/jacobsheart/ppc-webinar-jan-2020?mc_cid=53dd803107&mc_eid=67e1ad4c31.

2/4 CCCC Webinar on Unrepresented

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The Coalition for Compassionate Care of California will present a February 4, 2020 webinar on Unbefriended and Unrepresented: Medical Decision Making for the Incapacitated and Alone.  The webinar will provide continuing education credits for nurses and social workers.  Find details and register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/webinar-unbefriended-and-unrepresented-medical-decision-making-for-the-incapacitated-tickets-77153499193.

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.

11/15 Webinar on Supportive Care

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The Coalition for Supportive Care of Kidney Patients will present a 15 November 2018 webinar on Mapping the Future: Implementation Strategies for Kidney Supportive Care.  This is the first in a series of webinars that parallels a series of Nephrology News & Issues articles on “supportive care” for kidney patients that will begin in the November 2018 issue.  Direct any questions you have to Kelly Brooks at kbrooks@nw5.esrd.net or 804-320-0004 x2706

Register for the webinar at https://qualitynet.webex.com/mw3300/mywebex/default.do?nomenu=true&siteurl=qualitynet&service=6&rnd=0.9781770900950815&main_url=https%3A%2F%2Fqualitynet.webex.com%2Fec3300%2Feventcenter%2Fevent%2FeventAction.do%3FtheAction%3Ddetail%26%26%26EMK%3D4832534b00000004cb0a9a58476d6bd293b5a9f17210c9e047618e1f532c1a7922440c6f4b391fed%26siteurl%3Dqualitynet%26confViewID%3D107244241343796963%26encryptTicket%3DSDJTSwAAAATkodchRe-HYk3NR3hmhP3ljworAPoym4g8yOkYBUMOqg2%26.

Current plans include future webinars in the series on Providing Supportive Care: Tools & Resources for the Journey in December and Best Case/Worst Case and Older Patients in January.  Once they are scheduled, you can register for these webinars at https://qualitynet.webex.com/mw3300/mywebex/default.do?siteurl=qualitynet&service=6.

The Coalition for Supportive Care is an evolution of the earlier Kidney End-of-Life Coalition.  Their mission is to “Promote effective interchange among patients, families, healthcare professionals, and payers to ensure the provision of patient-centered supportive care for patients with kidney disease.  Supportive care is the continuum of palliative care and includes providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress of a serious illness.  The goal of the Coalition is to improve the quality of life for both patients and families from the time of diagnosis through to end-of-life care.”  Find out more about the Coalition for Supportive Care at https://kidneysupportivecare.org/Home.aspx.

Relationship-Centered Care

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The Kansas City Network has added two new one-page healthcare communication tools to their Heartland Huddle: Huddle Up to Improve Communication series.  The new entries are on Relationship-Centered Care, which focuses on the patient, but emphasizes the importance of mutual relationships between the care team, the patient, their family, the dialysis organization, and the community.  Earlier tools in the series include Active Listening, Body Language, Emotional Awareness, Respect, Shared Decision Making, and Coaching.  Find the entire series at http://heartlandkidney.org/providers/quality-improvement/qi-resources/heartland-huddle/.

12/7 Patient Revolution WIHI

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The Institute for Healthcare Improvement will host a free 7 December, 2017 audio “WIHI” program on The (Careful and Kind) Patient Revolution., featuring the Mayo Clinic’s Victor Montori, MD.  This Patient Revolution is “a movement based on stories.  [It’s] mission is to arm people to tell stories; stories about their lives, stories about their capabilities and limitations, and stories about what risks, benefits and trade-offs look like from their point of view.  We want people to tell these stories in exam rooms and hospital rooms, in their communities and in the rooms where decisions get made.”  For more information and to register, see http://forms.ihi.org/next-wihi-on-december-7-at-2-pm-et-the-careful-and-kind-patient-revolution.  For The (Careful and Kind) Patient Revolution website, see https://patientrevolution.org/whywerevolt/.

12/8+ CCCC Education Sessions

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The Coalition for Compassionate Care of California will present a December 13, 2017 webinar on 8 Mega Health Care Trends and How They Relate to Palliative Care PLUS the Year in Review.  One CEU will be available for nurses and social workers.  For details and registration see https://www.eventbrite.com/e/webinar-8-mega-health-care-trends-and-how-they-relate-to-palliative-care-plus-the-year-in-review-tickets-37258553336 .

CCCC will also present a February 8-9, 2018 live training on It Starts With A Conversation, Train-The-Trainer in San Francisco.  This course, using the standardized California POLST training curriculum, is designed to provide an understanding of the POLST Paradigm, and teach use of the POLST form to reflect a patient’s wishes.  The course is appropriate for physicians, physician assistants, nurses, LCSWs, LMFTs, and other healthcare providers working with the seriously ill and those nearing the end of life.  For details and registration see https://www.eventbrite.com/e/polst-it-starts-with-a-conversation-train-the-trainer-tickets-37214580813 .

And the CCCC Annual Summit will be held April 10-11, 2018 in Anaheim, on the theme Better Together: Forging a Path to Person-Centered Care.  Registration is open and early-registration prices are available; see http://ccccsummit.org/?mc_cid=caa566746a&mc_eid=67e1ad4c31 .  Poster session submission deadline is December 8, 2017; see http://ccccsummit.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/CCCC_Call_for_Posters_2018-final.pdf for instructions.