PORTLAND, Ore. - Health professionals who care for children with life-threatening illness will gather at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital for an intensive educational retreat designed to enhance communication skills and improve relationships with children and families.
The workshop - conducted by the Massachusetts-based Education Development Center - will take place Sunday, Oct. 28, through Tuesday, Oct. 30, at the Kingstad Conference Center in Beaverton, Ore., and will include health care practitioners and families from around the Northwest and Canada.
“Medical care for seriously ill children is often lacking in what may be called ‘the human touch,’ that is, meeting the needs of the ill patient and his or her family,” said David Browning, director of the Initiative for Pediatric Palliative Care at the Education Development Center. “Veteran physicians who have taken this course tell us how it changed them personally and altered their practice forever in the way they approach a dying patient. This is a very powerful experience.”
Parents who have experienced the life-threatening illness or death of their child will serve as active participants alongside pediatric experts, sharing intimate knowledge of approaches to care and the impact on patients and families. The goal of the retreat is to build the skills of health care professionals, promote effective dialogue between clinicians and families, and ultimately to improve the care provided to very ill children, 55,000 of whom die in the United States every year.
"As health care providers, we know there is no loss more difficult than the loss of a child, and no area of health care more challenging than the care of children with life-threatening conditions," said Kathleen Perko, M.S., P.N.P., Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. "We can and should be learning from one another and the unique structure of this session allows us to do that by bringing family members together with physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains and others."
In addition to Doernbecher, participating organizations include the Department of Pediatrics, OHSU School of Medicine; Legacy Emanuel Children’s Hospital and Legacy Hospice Services; Seattle Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center; and Canuck Place in British Columbia.
The Initiative for Pediatric Palliative Care, or IPPC, is a national education and quality improvement effort aimed at enhancing family-centered care for the most seriously ill children. IPPC is a collaboration of Education Development Center, Inc., The New York Academy of Medicine, the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions, the Society of Pediatric Nurses, and the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs, with major funding provided by the Aetna Foundation.
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EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER INC.
Education Development Center Inc., or EDC, is an international, nonprofit organization, conducts research and creates materials and programs to advance learning and promote health. EDC currently manages more than 325 projects in 40 countries. To learn more, visit www.edc.org.
DOERNBECHER CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, a division of Oregon Health & Science University, is a world-class academic health center that each year cares for more than 56,000 patients from across the United States. In the most patient- and family-centered environment, children receive outstanding cancer treatment, specialized neurology care, highly sophisticated heart surgery, and care in many other pediatric specialties. In addition to several locations in the Portland metropolitan area, Doernbecher’s pediatric experts travel throughout Oregon and southwest Washington providing pediatric specialty care at 13 outreach clinics.
