EDUCATION AND INTERNATIONAL COMMONS

Background
Canadians are increasingly requiring hospice palliative care as the population ages and escalating numbers of patients are dying from a number of chronic illnesses. Health care professionals from across the health care spectrum are being called upon to care for dying patients and address the needs of both the patient and their family. There is a growing body of evidence that consistently indicates gaps in the knowledge and skills of these health professionals and the end-of-life care needs of patients. These gaps are not discipline specific and have been observed across many disciplines, including physicians, nurses, pharmacists and social workers. There exists an urgent need to educate new professionals entering the health professions and those already in practice to care for terminally ill patients. Education, as was highlighted in the 2000 Senate Report Quality End-of-Life Care: The Right of Every Canadian, is paramount and as important as the development of service delivery programs, if the needs of dying Canadians and their families are to be addressed.

To this end, several individuals and programs are working across Canada to develop hospice palliative care education programs both locally and regionally, while some have a national focus. These programs span across the learning trajectory from postgraduate to graduate education, and from continuing professional development to inter-professional collaboration. However, there are many other groups and institutions that wish to expand their education efforts in this area but either lack resources or expertise or are re-inventing what has already been done, thereby expending much energy and limited resources unnecessarily. In some cases this is occurring in part because of the lack of opportunities to meet and learn from one another.

As well, Canada is recognized by many international hospice palliative care and end-of-life care programs and services as a world leader in the development and implementation of hospice palliative care programs and services. The Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association, as well as individual programs and services, are receiving an increasing number of requests from international partners for leadership and support. The requests are not for financial assistance, but rather requests for the transfer of skills and knowledge related to hospice palliative care. Canadian programs and services are answering this call. Mentoring, partnering, twinning and exchange programs are providing vital support to end-of-life care programs in developing countries.

Goals of the Education and International Commons

• Provide a hub for dialogue and sharing for hospice palliative care educators from different disciplines and different universities and centres from across the country.

• Provide a hub for dialogue and sharing for hospice palliative care programs and services who have met the challenge of twinning with international partners.

• Showcase hospice palliative care educational programs, models and interventions across undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate and continuing professional development.

• Showcase international hospice palliative care programs, models and twinning opportunities.

• Use it as a catalyst for a national repository of hospice palliative care educational and international activities.

• Establish a community of practice of Canadian palliative care educators and international programs across professions and disciplines to share their experience and develop new knowledge in these areas.

The Education and International Commons was showcased at the CHPCA National Hospice Palliative Care Conference held in Edmonton, Alberta from Sept 25-28, 2005. The Commons provided a venue for poster presentations outlining the exciting educational and international initiatives being undertaken in Canada and created opportunities for delegates with special interests in these areas to network. For those involved in international activities, the Commons was an excellent opportunity to identify possibilities for twinning, collaboration and resource support. 

The Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) and the Education Working Group of Health Canada’s Secretariat for Palliative and End of Life Care (Health Canada) are pleased to make the Syllabus from the Education and International Commons available to you.

Syllabus – Education and International Commons