A new partnership is bringing expanded palliative care training to rural Illinois healthcare providers.
The HAP Foundation and the Education in Palliative and End of Life Care Program—known as EPEC—based at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, have teamed up to offer a one-year clinical training program focused on adult palliative care in home and community-based settings.

The program will allow participants to learn from leading palliative care experts from Northwestern Medicine and other medical centers with experience serving rural communities. Organizers say the goal is to better equip clinicians to support seriously ill patients and their families closer to home.
The project will be directed by EPEC leaders Doctor Joshua Hauser and Doctor Gordon Wood, along with Sara Dado, Executive Director of Clinical Programs at The HAP Foundation.

The year-long program will begin and end with in-person, daylong conferences in central Illinois, with monthly virtual sessions in between for continued education and coaching. Topics include advance care planning, communicating difficult information, pain and symptom management, teamwork in palliative care, and care during the final hours of life.

The program is open to nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, social workers, community health workers, certified nursing assistants, and emergency service personnel. Continuing education credits will be available for nurses and social workers.

Doctor Hauser says no seriously ill patient or family should suffer without access to palliative care, adding that the partnership will help ensure rural communities receive expert support when facing serious illness.

The program begins April 17th. A reduced launch rate is available through March 17th, with group rates also offered.

More information and enrollment details can be found on the program’s website.