From Cradle to Grave: Palliative Medicine Education in the UK

Autor: Richard Hillier, Bee Wee
Rok vydání: 2001
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 94:468-471
ISSN: 1758-1095
0141-0768
Popis: Since the death rate in the UK population is approximately 100%, it seems reasonable that approximately 100% of healthcare professionals should have a sane attitude towards death and dying and some knowledge and skills in dealing with patients who experience the inevitable challenges, physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual. The depths of knowledge and skill required will depend on the kind of health professional. Those who deal with death and dying only infrequently will require only a basic knowledge of palliative care: others, such as those training to be specialists in palliative care or in palliative medicine, will undergo a lengthy educational programme, in the UK four years. Whichever category healthcare workers fall into, there is always likely to be a training element of one form or another. Administrative and clerical staff in every health setting should learn how to cope with distressed relatives and families; healthcare staff in hospitals and the community need to understand basic symptom control and have good communication skills. Senior nurses and doctors in palliative care may need to gain higher degrees, undergo accredited training and be able to participate in continuing professional development at all levels. However, more important than any of this is conveying the ethos, at the start of training, that palliative care is important. Not just because it improves quality of life and relieves suffering for patients and families, but because many of the skills in palliative care are useful in every other health setting—e.g. empathy, listening, communication, identification of problems and goals, developing priorities fast, and perhaps most important, working with and developing interprofessional teams so that patients get the right care at the right time from the right person. This is why palliative care education needs to start in the cradle and why it needs to continue to the grave.
Databáze: OpenAIRE