EPEC
What is the Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care for Oncology project?
In partnership with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), LIVESTRONG sponsored the Education in Palliative and End-of-life Care for Oncology (EPEC-O) Train-the-Trainer workshop. The workshop offers a comprehensive curriculum to optimize care for patients with cancer throughout the course of their illness. Produced through the EPEC Project at the Buehler Center on Aging at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, the Train-the-Trainer workshop is a unique educational event that gives cancer care professionals the necessary knowledge and skills to train others about the best practices in supportive oncology and end-of-life care. The workshop addresses the important aspects of comprehensive cancer care, including combining antineoplastic therapy and palliative care, managing pain and symptoms, discussing clinical trials and preventing professional burnout.
How are LIVESTRONG and EPEC-O working together to improve the lives of people affected by cancer?
LIVESTRONG and EPEC-O are partnering to improve communication between health care professionals and cancer survivors by educating survivors and caregivers about cancer survivorship issues from the point of diagnosis through long-term treatment effects and end-of-life care. Through the partnership, EPEC-O developed a program that includes educational materials to help facilitate a positive, proactive role and relationship between patients and health care teams.
What is the EPEC-Navigating the Health Care System Training Curriculum?
As a result of the development of the EPEC-O Train-the-Trainer workshop, LIVESTRONG and EPEC continued their partnership through the development of an additional curriculum. This time the curriculum was designed to train social workers, nurses, patient educators and patient navigators to teach people living with cancer and their family members how to navigate the health care system. It introduces the roles of the health care team, teaches you how to ask questions as well as how to track and assess physical, emotional and practical concerns.
What is EPEC-India?
EPEC–India offers ongoing workshops on palliative and end-of-life care. EPEC-India is based on the EPEC and EPEC-Oncology curricula with extensive region-specific adaptations and several new modules. The curriculum consists of 26 modules and four plenaries. The modules cover such topics as "Whole Patient Assessment," "Requests for Dying" and "Advancing Palliative Care in India," in addition to several others.
How can I get involved?
You can help further the work of LIVESTRONG and EPEC by promoting the Train-the-Trainer curriculums to health care professionals in your community. To access free copies of the curriculums, visit EPEC's website.
