Building Supportive Care Training Program

• Learn how to implement, maintain and grow supportive care programs of excellence.
• Attend a three-day workshop, six strategic planning conference calls, a web-based discussion board and tailored resources — all available  at no cost to you (all other expenses are the responsibility of the trainee).
• Receive AMA PRA Category 1 Credits.
• Benefit from the experiences of an internationally recognized faculty who have successfully created supportive care programs in a variety of settings.
• Acquire the skills necessary to create the culture change that is essential to transforming health care.
• Learn how to facilitate skills-based small groups focused on opportunities for leadership and culture change.
• Work with other courageous colleagues from around the country to share skills, experiences, successes and setbacks in highly interactive environment.
• Create supportive professional relationships that can last a lifetime.
   

Faculty for Building Supportive Care Training Program
The workshop will be conducted by internationally recognized leaders: oncologists, pain and palliative care experts, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, researchers, nurses and business administrators (partial list only).
 
•    Matthew Loscalzo, L.C.S.W., City of Hope (PI)
•    William Redd, Mt. Sinai Medical Center (Site PI)
•    Susan Block, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
•    Barry Bultz, Tom Baker Cancer Center
•    Paul Jacobsen, Moffitt Cancer Center
•    Ruth McCorkle, Yale University
•    Karen Clark, M.S., City of Hope (Co-Investigator)
•    Marcia Grant, D.N.Sc., R.N., City of Hope (Co-Investigator)
•    Donald Rosenstein, UNC at Chapel Hill
•    Joseph Simone, Simone Consulting
•    Lynn Spragens, Spragens & Associates
•    Deanne Wolcott, Cedars Sinai Cancer Center
 

Core Curriculum
The training will address topics identified as critical to building, implementing and evaluating supportive care programs that provide compassionate and effective biopsychosocial care along the disease continuum (partial list only):

• Implementing clinical pathways for identifying and addressing patients’ supportive care needs
• Engaging physicians, nurses and institutional administrative leaders
• Using a sound financial plan to build a clinical program
• Identifying and maximizing institutional and community resources
• Integrating clinical care, research and education
• Initiating institutional culture change

Three-day Workshop

Networking poster session

Throughout the workshop posters will be displayed summarizing each trainee’s (or team’s) institution and department. A picture of each trainee/team will also be displayed on their posters. The posters create an opportunity for mutual support and networking that will be sustained throughout the five years of the grant, plus one additional year.

 

Didactic lectures

The internationally recognized training faculty presents the essentials of the assigned topic. The training will address topics identified as critical to building, implementing and evaluating supportive care programs that provide compassionate and effective biopsychosocial care along the disease continuum (partial list only):

 

• Implementing clinical pathways for identifying and addressing patients’ supportive care needs
• Engaging physicians, nurses and institutional administrative leaders
• Using a sound financial plan to build a clinical program
• Identifying and maximizing institutional and community resources
• Integrating clinical care, research and education
• Initiating institutional culture change

 

The content is focused, condensed and practical. This information lays the foundation for the small groups to immediately apply this information to the challenges and opportunities they are assigned.

 

Interactive small group exercises

The small groups are assigned clearly defined specific challenges and opportunities which they are to address. A scribe is assigned to record key talking points in discussion with the other members of their group. A spokesperson is also assigned who will share the small group output with all of the other trainees at the end of the interactive exercise. Only the assigned spokesperson speaks for the group at the end of this portion of the exercise. In the small groups, for each assigned challenge (e.g., reduced funding), the trainees will identify specific behaviors (e.g., make an appointment to talk with a development officer) to address the assigned challenge. The small groups also work together to identify creative opportunities that are inherent in the assigned challenge (e.g., population-specific foundation funding). Members of the training faculty and research team are available to assist during the small group interactive exercises to address any questions about the process.

 

 

Resource Inventory

The resource inventory will provide information about the trainee’s institution regarding the resources available for implementation of supportive care programs. As part of the resource inventory, trainees are taught how to identify, apply and leverage the resources in their community.

 

Project Plan

By the end of the skills-based workshop and using the completed resource inventory, the trainees will complete a project plan with a timeline for implementation at their home setting. In instances where there is more than one trainee from the same institution, they will jointly develop their project plan. The project plan will be incorporated throughout the workshop. As part of the project plan, trainees are asked to envision the best possible outcome for their setting (in detail) and then work backwards from the envisioned success.

 

Postworkshop follow-up opportunities

• Hopeboard - This is an online discussion board to permit networking during the tenure of the award and one year following. The online discussion board is available around the clock and is an easily accessed repository for tailored information, resources, articles and inspiring stories. The discussion board is used to disseminate course curriculum materials, research articles and any other announcements relevant to the workshops. It is also used to collect follow-up information from the trainees.
• Strategic planning conference calls - Monthly training faculty-trainee conference calls are conducted by the PI for six months following each workshop. These conference calls will be run in the same way as the small group interactive exercises were conducted during the workshop. If there are specific issues that are relevant to fewer members of the group, the PI will arrange for separate conference calls to encourage common interest groups, specialized networking and the small interactive group process.

 

Program Evaluation

As with any program, evaluation is an important part of demonstrating overall effectiveness of the program, newly learned skills and knowledge. It is also essential to using data to make improvements. To evaluate the success of the training program, an extensive plan has been developed based on the experience of the investigators in educational programs and their research. We will take a multifaceted approach to evaluating the proposed training program, assessing the program’s success at three levels: 1) curriculum content, 2) impact on you, and 3) impact on your institution.