An Interdisciplinary Approach to End-of-Life Education on Our Campus and within Our Community
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Abstract
An Interdisciplinary Approach to End-of-Life Education on Our Campus and within Our Community
Proposal Summary The death awareness movement began nearly 60 years ago (Doka, 2003); more recently, the death positive movement has been gaining traction across the US (Incorvaia, 2022). Further, national efforts are underway to optimize end-of-life (EOL) care by demanding greater attention and adherence to patient and family preferences among healthcare professionals (Committee on Approaching Death, 2015). Despite these movements, training in EOL care is still not standard in medical education (Association of American Medical Colleges, 2016). Discussions about end-of-life (EOL) care are often avoided and completion of Advance Care Planning (ACP) and Advanced Directives (AD) in the US remains low (Grant et al., 2021).
Organizing Question How can we prepare students to better care for the increasingly diverse needs of the dying and address systemic barriers to ACP?
Summary Description Our team consists of five faculty members of various ranks teaching courses in four disciplines: gerontology, philosophy, psychology, and respiratory therapy. We believe our interdisciplinary team is uniquely positioned to address some of these gaps in training. Many of our students will become future health care professionals (e.g., nurses, psychologists, respiratory therapists, social workers). All of our students will navigate the dying and death of their loved ones. To address this, we propose a 3-year plan that will benefit our students and our community.
In year one, students will learn about, explore, and identify different perspectives on EOL care and barriers to EOL planning and decision making within our local community. In year 2, students will help address these barriers by assisting with the development and testing of online community-focused resources. Last, in year 3, students will further engage the community through outreach and educational events related to EOL care and ACP.
This proposal gives students the opportunity to learn about and integrate diverse perspectives on EOL and ACP from 4 different disciplines. Further, students will directly discover and acknowledge the diverse EOL needs that exist within our local community (DV2) through our signature projects.
