This session introduces the concepts of palliative support and discusses the values and outcomes that underpin end-of-life support. We'll discuss some of the myths related to the process of dying and the general stages through which a person might proceed at the end-of-life. We'll discuss the many facets of the process of dying, the impact on the client's family/friends, the impact personal beliefs have on a worker's ability to provide support, and the fundamental skills to providing optimal support. We'll also discuss the importance of client preferences for actions at the time of apparent death.

This session will help you:

• View dying as a process that is unique to the person
• Describe the personal culture factors that influence end-of-life support
• Identify personal attitudes and feelings with regard to client death and the worker's role in supporting the person who is dying, as well as support to those closes to the client
• Describe common physical, social and emotional challenges to client comfort and dicuss techniques to address these challenges
• Discuss the worker's personal needs for support, as they may arise when caring for a client who is dying

Pain may not be the most significant symptom to the palliative client. This session will introduce participants to the use of the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) and to the Palliative Care Outcomes Scale (PCOS) to identify common non-pain symptoms of discomfort in the person who is dying. PSWs will also learn helpful strategies to promote comfort with these specific symptoms, as well as methods to share these strategies with others in the support team.

This session will help you:

• Discuss and apply the ESAS to situations drawn from work situations
• Identify potential sources of non-pain discomfort
• Identify and apply potential responses to identified sources, given situations drawn from work situations
• Document successful strategies in the care plan

This workshop focuses on the use of non-medicinal pain reduction techniques appropriate to the PSW working with a client receiving palliative support. It will include diversion techniques, comfort measures, supporting nutrition to reduce discomfort as well as pain monitoring and other techniques.

This session will help you:

• Develop skill in diversionary techniques such as massage, music and other approaches that may reduce client discomfort
• Gain physical care techniques that may reduce client discomfort
• Understand pain monitoring and the role the support worker may play

It's often said that people want to life fully until they die. What "living" means at the end-of-life, however, varies greatly and is shaped by each person's unique personal culture. 

This session explores how personal culture - including but not limited to ethnic and religious traditions - shapes end-of-life preferences. We'll examine how it influences decisions about pain management, daily living, family roles, and what happens after death. We'll also look at the PSW's role in supporting these preferences, including how to navigate situations when a client's choices differ from the worker's own values or beliefs.

You will learn:

• What personal culture is and how it may shape a client's end-of-life perferences
• How client preferences contribute to a sense of life satisfaction
• The connection between personal culture and communication
• How to reflect on and manage personal responses when client choices are unfamiliar or personally challenging

Dementia significantly impacts the dying process, often limiting verbal communication and increasing symptom complexity. This workshop addresses symptom recognition, comfort care, and the ethical considerations of end-of-life support.

This session will help you:

• Understand the cognitive and physical changes in late-stage dementia
• Observe and assess symptoms effectively
• Provide dignified, person-centred palliative care
• Navigate ethical dilemmas compassionately

This course is graded and includes 1-2 assignments. Students successfully completing the course will receive a certificate. A pre-course meeting with the trainer is included to help identify specific content areas your organization would like addressed and to tailor the course accordingly. 

We will also conduct a pre-session learning evaluation and can include an exemption process for students who have taken one of Capacity Builders 3-hour Dementia workshops. 

Benefits of the Specialist Certificate:

• A longer format allows time to explore conditions and concepts in greater depth, leading to stronger knowledge retention and application in real-world situations
• PSWs have more opportunity to practice and refine specific skills - such as communication, engagement and assessment
• Time to absorb content and receive feedback, ensuring PSWs gain confidence in supporting clients

Topics covered: 

• Palliation across cultures
• Supporting person to live until they die
• Pain assessment and monitoring
• Comfort measures
• Supporting and working with the client's family and other supports
• Terminal lucidity and other phenomenon of a person's last days
• Ethical/legal concerns