While health care teams are working tirelessly to keep Canadians safe throughout the pandemic, the demand for palliative and end-of-life care is increasing.
To support physicians and other health care workers in this area, the CMA is collaborating with Pallium Canada (Pallium) to provide free online access to their training modules and learning resources.
Designed as an introduction to the palliative care approach, these modules focus on important knowledge and skills required to provide this type of care — including learning about the social, psychological, emotional and spiritual needs of patients.
Along with these online modules, health care workers will soon be able to watch a series of live webinars featuring experts answering questions on palliative care and the pandemic.
“Under normal circumstances, a patient’s palliative care needs would be addressed by an interprofessional palliative care team made up of physicians, nurses, social workers and spiritual care workers,” says Dr. Sandy Buchman, CMA president. “With the current strain on our health care system, we need to make sure our health care workers can gain this knowledge to better support their patients during COVID-19 and beyond.”
Since 2000, Pallium has been building health care capacity by equipping health care professionals working in different settings and areas with essential skills and knowledge on the palliative care approach. Since 2014, more than 28,000 health care professionals have been trained through their modules.