Improving Access to Palliative Care through Education and Training.

The population is aging, especially in rural areas where people experience higher rates of mortality and chronic illness as well as greater distances to care, including specialty care. Since there is a lack of access to specialty palliative care, all clinicians must be trained to provide the fundamentals of palliative care to improve quality of life and limit suffering. Numerous options are available for clinicians to be trained in palliative care.

The State of Palliative Care in South Dakota.

As numbers of patients living with chronic diseases are increasing, there is a growing demand for physicians who have knowledge to provide interventions that align with the goals of palliative care. The increasing number of patients living with chronic disease creates a challenge for the healthcare landscape of South Dakota. Even though South Dakota has a growing number of fellowship trained and board certified palliative and hospice physicians to help meet patient needs, there is a shortage of providers to meet the demand.

Palliative Care Knowledge Following an Interdisciplinary Palliative Care Seminar.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic created a unique opportunity to evolve an interdisciplinary palliative care seminar (IPC) into a virtual platform. This seminar provides foundational palliative and hospice concepts, introductions into palliative care disciplines, integration of teamwork, and incorporates interdisciplinary student led patient encounters. Traditionally, this experience had been in person, however during the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare restrictions transitioned the educational delivery to a virtual platform.