Serious Illness Conversations: Improving Patient Care at End of Life
When patients are experiencing serious illness—and perhaps approaching end of life—combining your medical skills with a solid understanding of what is important to your patients allows you to plan for the best care possible, together.
Sometimes this can be more challenging than it seems but, like other skills, how to gain this understanding can be learned, and your skills will improve over time with practice and support. The Center for Advancing Serious Illness Communication (CASIC) will provide you with the training, skills and resources to help you provide the highest quality of care for your patients by ensuring the care you deliver is concordant with your patient’s goals.
A joint project of the Minnesota Medical Association and the Minnesota Hospital Association, CASIC’s comprehensive training series will introduce you to serious illness communication and to the Serious Illness Conversation Guide (SICG). This evidence based, patient-tested tool was developed by Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
This no-cost, CME-eligible training is available to members of care teams who work with patients with serious illnesses. First, you’ll take a prerequisite sequence of three on-demand, online modules, accessed here: www.advancingsic.org/training-and-events
Part 1: Serious Illness Conversation—An Introduction (.25 credit)
Part 2: The Serious Illness Conversation Guide (.5 credit)
Part 3: Implementing Serious Illness Communication (.25 credit)
Upon completion of the modules, you’ll take part in a live, virtual classroom training session, qualifying for 3 AMA PRA Category 1 credits, where you will:
- Experience the Serious Illness Conversation Guide as part of a structured approach for ensuring
the delivery of serious illness conversations. - Practice the communication skills necessary to use the Serious Illness Conversation Guide,
receive feedback to improve those skills, and integrate these skills into your practice.
The next training session will take place on:
- Thursday, October 9, or Tuesday, October 21,12:45 pm to 4:30 pm
Please visit www.advancingsic.org/training-and-events to learn about our upcoming classroom training dates and to register. Space is limited and must be reserved and confirmed in advance. For more information, contact Lori Brostrom, CASIC Executive Director at lbrostrom@advancingsic.org.
