The National Hospice Organization, Arlington, Va., held a teleconference in 1997 that provided a "Train the Trainers" forum designed to introduce physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals to End-of-Life issues through an educational kit, "Care Beyond Cure: Physician Education in End-of-Life Care."

The educational kit was developed under an earlier project by the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences at Eisenhower, Rancho Mirage, Calif., in collaboration with the National Hospice Organization, a national nonprofit organization that is responsible for promoting and maintaining quality care and support for terminally ill people and their families.

It is designed for use by residency programs in family medicine and internal medicine, and by oncology fellows.

Key Results

• A "Train-the-Trainers" teleconference was held on April 7, 1997, in 32 sites across the country. Total attendance at the teleconference was 368 and included 247 physicians and 30 nurses among other health care professionals.
• More than 400 kits were distributed to the teleconference sites. The remaining kits were distributed to residency programs across the country through an outreach program that sought to link local hospice programs with residency programs. The kit contains:
  • A teacher's manual.
  • Three 30-minute videos (an introduction to End-of-Life issues, communicating with terminally-ill patients, and pain management and symptom control).
  • A continuing medical education syllabus.
  • Two publications (The Primer of Palliative Care, produced by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and a pain management guide).
• The American Medical Association's International Health and Medical Film Competition recognized this project with its FREDDIE Award, which was presented in November 1997 in San Francisco.

Funding

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) supported the project with a grant of $113,280 between January 1997 and June 1997.