“It’s not Magic, It’s Intentional Communication”—Using the Primary Palliative Care Communication Toolkit to Teach Communication to Interdisciplinary Learners at Different Levels of Training (FR453)

Abstract

•Incorporate literature-based fundamental conceptual frameworks in communication into a workable toolkit for “just in time” use, for the right learner at the right time at the right place.•Develop a personalized skill set for Palliative Care teams to recognize teachable moments in everyday care and disseminate timely and concise teaching pearls in communication using the Toolkit.•Identify techniques to incorporate primary palliative care communication instruction to enhance skill sets in non-palliative care trainees and inter-professional learners. Primary palliative care (PPC) instruction is gaining prominence as benefits of early palliative care (PC) become clear, as patients live longer with serious illness, and as hospital systems look to improve the care of medically frail patients. With the growth of academic PC, the opportunity to engage learners of many disciplines and levels of training has expanded. Effective PC is based on excellent communication, which can be challenging to teach, especially in busy clinical practices. We discuss the interdisciplinary PC faculty skills development in utilizing the flexible and adaptable PPC Communication Toolkit. We demonstrate how our current training curriculum for fellows and other learners of various levels and disciplines incorporate this Toolkit to enable learners to build on their personal frame of reference as they see faculty incorporate these principles and techniques into everyday practice. Attendees will apply and practice these core elements, methodologies and techniques to engage both teachers and learners during the session. We will showcase four ways the Toolkit has been adapted and incorporated into communication training at a large academic institution and VA hospital. During a real-time consult PC faculty apply the “catch and release” method to coach learners on non-PC rotations when a PC consult is requested. PC faculty use the Toolkit to teach advance care planning to Nephrology fellows, to structure goals of care discussions with Internal Medicine residents on a geriatrics rotation, and to coach ICU nurse practitioners. The Primary Palliative Care Communication Toolkit is a creative, consistent, and adaptable way to incorporate communication training into the day-to-day care of patients living with serious illness and into the education of learners of different disciplines and levels of training. Participants will find tools and ideas that are easy and fun to use as they teach the next generation of clinicians to care for seriously ill patients.