CSU Institute for Palliative Care Course Addresses Gaps in Case Manager Training

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- csupalliativecare.org. The California State University Institute for Palliative Care is releasing its latest online course, "Palliative Care for Care Managers," aimed at increasing knowledge of palliative care among health plan case managers. Created in collaboration with The California Coalition for Compassionate Care, the course is open to nurses, social workers, and others who provide case management services in health plans of every size.

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Case managers or care managers are responsible for helping individuals with serious or chronic medical conditions, and their families, access the most effective services to manage their condition. However, case managers do not typically receive focused, in-depth palliative training.   This course will arm care managers with training needed to recognize how a suite of services called palliative care can be effectively used to manage chronic conditions, relieve symptoms, facilitate conversations about life goals, and bring together the professionals who can create care plans that meet these goals.  

The Institute's Executive Director, Helen McNeal summarized the need for this course: "Care managers have an important role to play in helping health plans ensure that their members get the right care at the right time. Optimizing quality of care, maximizing member satisfaction and connecting to available community resources are all challenges that fall squarely on care managers. Health plans need care managers with the palliative care expertise that this course provides. Best of all, their care managers can get this best practice knowledge in a self-paced format that allows them to take the course in 'bites' as they need it.  Or, if the health plan prefers, it is available on-site."

Timely training to assist health plan care managers coordinate care for today's increasing numbers of aging and chronically ill people are thoroughly covered in the course:

• Treatment options, side effects, psychological impacts of treatments and disease;
• Understanding spiritual and alternative therapy, and effects of differing cultural beliefs and norms on care decisions;
• Best practices in having difficult conversations about care choices and advance directives like living wills;
• Communicating with empathy, and attention to the social, emotional and spiritual needs of patients and their families.

Developed with input from some of America's leading health plans, the course was successfully piloted in both face-to-face and self-paced online formats.  Designed to be flexible for differing needs, it also offers health plans the choice of hosting onsite staff training, customized to fit their specific needs, including:

• One-on-One Role Playing – Individual role-playing via phone
• Group Review Sessions with Individual role-playing via webinar
• Supervisor Coaching/Training – Coaching and guidance for supervisors and trainers on specific topics by phone or on-site.

Comments from participants of the on-site pilot course spoke of their experience with the course:

"The course has provided for a better understanding of my role as Utilization Review nurse performing medical case review for oncology services, specifically chemotherapy regimens."

"I feel that this course has been beneficial to my work and has given me more tools that I can use with my members."

"An amazing course; highly recommend to all nurses in every specialty, not just oncology."

Palliative Care for Care Managers has been approved by the Commission for Case Manager Certification to provide 20 continuing education credit hours to Certified Case Managers (CCMs). 

Learn more about "Palliative Care for Care Managers" at http://csupalliativecare.org/programs/care-management, or 760.750.4006.

About the CSU Institute for Palliative Care

The CSU Institute for Palliative Care offers palliative care-focused professional development and continuing education courses designed to enhance the skills of current and future healthcare professionals across the country and around the world. Housed within one of the largest university systems in the United States, the Institute leverages the strength of the CSU to deliver evidence-based online and in-person palliative care education to healthcare professionals working in health systems, hospices, skilled nursing facilities, health plans, case management, and physician practices. The Institute helps organizations and professionals achieve the palliative care skills needed to meet the growing needs of chronically or seriously ill people in all care settings.

Media Contact:
Steve Dahl
CSU Institute for Palliative Care
Email
760-750-7292

SOURCE California State University Institute for Palliative Care

Related Links

http://csupalliativecare.org