Watch For Continuing Education on End of Life Care

Online Continuing Education for Health Providers Who Work With Clients Who Are Near the End of Life

A program of ten interactive training modules with course content based on current practice and research literatures, brief audio and video vignettes designed to illustrate critical content, graphs and tables summarizing research findings and case examples that provide opportunities to apply lessons learned. Topics include:

This new program will be launched through the APA Independent Study Program in early 2009 (details about the program and how to register will soon be available at http://www.apa.org/ce/).

Contact APA Office on AIDS, 202-336-6042 or E-mail
for details or to be placed on the notification list.
Or bookmark www.apa.org/pi/eol/education.html

This program was created through funding by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the American Psychological Association (APA) Office on AIDS and its small business collaborator, eNURSING IIc. This program has been approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing education credits to psychologists.

Overview of End-of-Life issues for the Mental Health Provider.
John R. Anderson, PhD, William E. Haley, PhD, and Renee S. Katz, PhD.
This module provides an overview of end of life care in the

United States

and the unique roles, tasks and challenges for mental health care providers working in this area of practice. It describes key concepts related to end of life care, describes hospice and palliative care and how both are typically delivered in the

United States

, explains the historical, cultural, and contextual issues that affect end of life care, and discusses the major ways mental health providers can assist patients and their families near the end of life.

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Assessment and Treatment of Psychological Distress Near the End of Life
Barry Rosenfeld, PhD, John R. Anderson, PhD., and James L. Werth, Jr., PhD.
This module presents research-based information about what is currently known about the causes and treatment of psychological distress in dying patients. It teaches how to differentiate normal from pathological reactions to terminal illness, explains how symptoms of psychological distress are expressed, assessed, and treated in the context of terminal illness, and describes various forms of treatment for psychological distress near the end of life.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Pain at the End of Life
Steven D. Passik, PhD and Karen Byers, PsyD.
This module addresses the multidimensional concept of pain and its treatment near the end of life. It describes the multiple aspects of pain, explains the barriers that affect the appropriate management of pain, discusses approaches to pain assessment, demonstrates types of behavioral interventions for patients experiencing pain related to advanced disease, describes general pharmacological approaches to pain management, and explains the significance of and treatment of clients where pain co-occurs with substance abuse and addiction.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Cognitive Changes at the End of Life
David K. Payne, PhD.
This module provides an overview of cognitive changes in patients entering the terminal phase of a life threatening illness. It discusses the prevalence, incidence, and etiology of cognitive changes in the palliative care population, including delirium and dementia. It describes the most commonly used techniques for assessing and diagnosing cognitive disorders in this population as well as the multi-modal treatment of these disorders. Assessment and intervention approaches are demonstrated with specific case examples.

Grief and Bereavement
Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD.
This module discusses both typical and problematic features of response to loss of loved ones, explains predictable physical and psychological symptomatology associated with acute bereavement, and demonstrates these within stress response, meaning reconstruction, and attachment models. It describes common risk factors for poor bereavement outcomes, discusses symptoms associated with other forms of grief, and demonstrates general and specialized scales to evaluate grief.

Religious and Spiritual Issues at the End of Life
Robert A. Washington, PhD, James L. Werth, Jr., PhD, John R. Anderson, PhD., and Martha S. Mihaly, PhD. This module addresses the common spiritual and religious concerns frequently faced by clients and their families near the end of life. It provides an understanding of the significance of religion and spirituality in the lives of those who are dying and their family and friends, describes a variety of approaches to conducting a spiritual assessment for patients near the end of life, explains the coping mechanisms as well as conflicts associated with spirituality and religion near the end of life, and demonstrates clinical approaches to specific spiritual concerns of dying patients.

Family Caregiving Issues at the End of Life
William E. Haley, PhD
This module provides information on how family members who provide care to their loved ones are affected by their caregiving roles and describes ways that these caregivers can be assisted by mental health providers. It discusses the burdens and benefits experienced by caregivers, demonstrates a stress and coping model to conceptualize individual differences in family caregiver adaptation, explains how hospice and palliative care services can support the role of family caregiver, discusses the role of culture on family caregiving, and identifies the roles of psychologists and other professionals in addressing family caregiving issues.

Teamwork in End of Life Care
Donna Kwilosz, PhD, and Julia Kasl-Godley, PhD.
This module addresses palliative and end-of-life care in hospital settings and the roles of mental health professionals when functioning on, or collaborating with hospital-based interdisciplinary health teams in providing this care. It describes different types of end-of -life care teams, identifies how mental health care providers can contribute to the management of psychological issues, and demonstrates specific skills for interacting with treatment teams involved with end-of-life care.

Ethical and Legal Considerations When Working with Clients Near the End of Life
James L. Werth, Jr., PhD.
This module address legal and ethical issues that specifically relate to (a) decisions to limit treatment (b) decisions to deliberately hasten death, and (c) boundary crossings/multiple relationships when treating patients who are near death. It demonstrates how case law and mental health providers� ethical standards can be applied to treatment decisions and care, explains the role of culture and the mental health provider�s values on ethical analyses and decisions. An ethical decision making model is demonstrated.

Advance Care Planning
Peter Ditto, PhD and Susan E. Hickman, PhD.
This module provides information for mental health clinicians about advance directives and advance care planning. It explains the history and legal basis of advance directives, explains the different types of advance directives available to clients, identifies ethical and legal issues involved in end of life decision making, discusses potential problems with advance directives in medical decision making and identifies how mental health providers can facilitate advance planning to support their clients� needs, values, and goals.