Presentation Recordings: Spring 2023 Palliative Care Series

Session 1: They Just Don’t Get It: Serious illness communication strategies, skills, opportunities and pitfalls

Presented by Diana Barnard, MD – Associate Professor of Family Medicine Lead Palliative Care Physician, UVM Health Network – Porter Medical Center

Learning objectives:

• Identify specific tools for responding to emotion
• Explain the challenges and opportunities in navigating prognostic uncertainty
• Describe essential concepts in serious illness  communication

This session was recorded via Zoom on April 18, 2023.

Session 2: Minding the Language Gap: The words we use may not always convey the meaning we intend

Presented by Steve Berns, MD, Kacey Boyle, MSPC, RN, CHPN and Jennifer Hauptman, MSW, LICSW

Learning objective:

• Recognize how our language can impact patients and their families
• Find ways to mitigate bias in our language
• Describe a framework to approach serious illness care plans

Slides will be posted here as soon as they are available.

Session 3: Uncertain End of Life Trajectory: Care implications for patients with severe psychiatric illness

Presented by Steven Runyan, DO – UVM Medical Center & Belle Matheson, MA, MSN, APRN, ACHPN – UVM Medical Center

Learning Objectives:

• Understand barriers to palliative interventions experienced by patients with serious mental illness.
• Identify and explore ethical challenges in end-of-life care for patients with serious mental illness.
• Appreciate the complexity of caring for people with life-threatening complications of their mental illness.

Session 4: Clear as Mud: The nuances of hospice eligibility & financial issues at end of life

Presented by Joyce Dobbertin, MD, DC – Hospice & Palliative Medicine Specialist affiliated with Northern Vermont Regional Hospital

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the range of financial issues that surround end of life care
• Describe and apply criteria for hospice eligibility
• Recognize the variation that exists between public perception and reality as it pertains to hospice care

Slides will be posted here as soon as they are available.

Session 5: Use of Opioids in Serious Illness: Inpatient and outpatient considerations

Presented by Allen Hutcheson, MD – Southwestern Vermont Medical Center

Learning objectives:

• Choose an opioid to treat pain in seriously ill patients based on current guidelines and risk profiles.
• Follow Vermont regulations when prescribing opioids for cancer pain or palliative care.
• Use an empathic communication technique when treating seriously ill patients with complex pain.

Session 6: Medical Aid In Dying Update: Recent Changes to Act 39 & Non-Resident Access

Presented by Diana Barnard, MD – Palliative Care Lead, Porter Medical Center & Board of Directors, Patient Choices Vermont and Betsy Walkerman, Esq. – President, Patient Choices Vermont