Aims:

• Increase your knowledge and understanding of pain and symptom management, exploring both pharmacological and non pharmacological therapeutic interventions
• Address psychological issues including psychiatric assessment and bereavement and the impact of culture in end of life care

Learn to:

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the assessment of physical symptoms in patients with advanced cancer
• Review and critically appraise strategies for the management of the physical symptoms associated with advanced malignant disease
• Critically discuss how loss and separation form an intrinsic part of human emotional and behavioural development
• Identify the common manifestations of `normal' grief and critically analyse therapeutic interventions in the facilitation of grief work in clinical practice
• Critically appraise theoretical models of loss and their application in end of life care
• Critically appraise the evidence about the therapeutic effect and efficacy of complimentary therapies in end of  life  care
• Demonstrate an awareness of the practices of aromatherapy, massage and acupuncture in end of life care including the indications and contra indications of these therapies
• Demonstrate an understanding of the main sources of psychological distress in patients who have entered the palliative care stage of their disease trajectory
• Critically analyze the coping mechanisms patients and their carers may engage in to cope with their psychological distress
• Critically appraise the concept of culture and its importance in holistic care
• Critically analyse how cultural issues may impact on end of life care delivery