• Lancaster University

Dying Well: The Role of Palliative Care and Sedation in End of Life Care

Improve your care as a healthcare professional or family caregiver with palliative treatment and sedation best practices.

2,227 enrolled on this course

A Health Care professional discusses palliative care with an elderly patient
  • Duration

    3 weeks
  • Weekly study

    3 hours

Learn from the experts at Lancaster University and various European countries

How people die stays with those who care about them. Dying well means being able to manage challenging symptoms in clinical care settings, which can sometimes involve the use of sedation or other care options.

On this three-week course from Lancaster University, you’ll learn the best practices for managing difficult end of life symptoms. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to improve your care practices as a health and social care professional or a family caregiver.

You’ll learn what it means to die well as you unpack patterns and experiences at the end of life. Exploring findings from a European Commission funded study, you’ll also discover the use of sedation and other care options you can use in your context.

Understand the role of palliative care

Through a variety of learning materials, including short videos, articles, discussions, and real-life case studies, you’ll discover the role of palliative care and sedation in helping people to die well.

This will help you gain an understanding of current palliative care practices and treatment options for end of life care across Europe and in the context of ethical and cultural differences.

Learn how to manage difficult symptoms with sedatives

Next, you’ll compare ethical and practical debates as well as evidence-based recommendations about the use of sedation in end of life care across European countries.

This exploration will help you learn how to manage difficult symptoms with sedation.

Explore recommendations for palliative sedation

Finally, you’ll explore the revised recommendations from the European Association for Palliative Care on palliative sedation.

You’ll then put your skills into practice as you prepare a plan about the use of sedation in your own clinical care setting or as a family caregiver.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 11 seconds Welcome to the Future Learn course, Dying well: The Role of Palliative Care and Sedation. Death touches all of us in different ways. For many people, it’s a peaceful end to a life well lived. But for some, there are concerns about how the process of dying may be experienced and the impact it has on those who witnessed the death. Hello, my name is Professor Sheila Payne and I’m an Emeritus Professor at the International Observatory on End of Life Care at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom. Along with my colleague Professor Nancy Preston, we’ll be launching a new course on Future Learn on Monday the 16th of October 2023.

Skip to 1 minute and 0 seconds During the course, we’ll be talking about dying, and especially how palliative care may have a role in easing the experience of dying by improving quality of life, offering compassionate communication for patients and their families, and managing distressing symptoms and concerns. We’ll also be drawing upon the outcomes and lessons learned from a large European study called palliative sedation. With guest presentations from leading doctors and researchers. In the first week, we’ll start to look at patterns of dying and palliative care services across Europe and discuss the process of dying and what palliative care means in this context.

Skip to 1 minute and 46 seconds In the second week, we explain the palliative sedation project and tell you about what has been learned to improve sedation in palliative care contexts throughout Europe. We show you examples of how staff have integrated sedation into their work and introduce what we know from international publications. Finally, in week three we introduce the revised European Association for Palliative Care Framework on Sedation and look at specific examples from different countries of how it can work in practise. The course is designed to be suitable for clinicians working in palliative care and cancer care, and also for researchers and other people interested in healthcare. There’s still time to invite friends and colleagues to enrol on the course and take part alongside you.

Skip to 2 minutes and 35 seconds Having the support of people you know can really enrich the experience of studying online. There’ll be plenty of opportunity to interact with other learners within the course and we strongly encourage you to join it. If this is your first Future Learn course, you might like to familiarise yourself with the site. By visiting the Using Future Learn page. You’ll find more help on Future Learn’s Frequently Asked Questions page. We’re looking forward to seeing you soon.

Syllabus

  • Week 1

    Dying well and the role of palliative care

    • Introductions

      Welcome to week 1! This activity provides an introduction to the course and educators, and an opportunity for you to tell us a bit about yourself.

    • Introduction to dying and palliative care

      This activity introduces common symptoms at the end of life and the practice of palliative care.

    • Patterns of dying and the idea of dying well

      This activity introduces patterns of dying and the idea of a good death.

    • Summary of the week

      A multiple choice quiz allows you to check what you have learned this week. We summarise week 1 and introduce the topics that will be covered in week 2.

  • Week 2

    Managing difficult symptoms with sedation

    • Introduction to week 2

      Welcome to week 2. This activity includes an overview of the topics we will cover this week, a case study, an introduction to difficult symptoms at the end of life and a presentation of the Palliative Sedation research project.

    • Using sedation in palliative care

      In this activity you will have an opportunity to discuss the use of sedation in palliative care, hear how clinicians use it, and learn more about the symptoms sedation is appropriate for.

    • Ethical dilemmas in the use of sedation

      This activity introduces the concept of an ethical dilemma, gives an overview of the ones that come up with the use of sedation, and explains the difference between euthanasia and palliative sedation.

    • Summary of the week

      A multiple choice quiz allows you to check what you have learned this week. We summarise week 2 and introduce the topics that will be covered in week 3.

  • Week 3

    Recommendations for using sedation in palliative care

    • Introduction to week 3

      Welcome to week 3! This activity sets out the contents of the final week of the course, presents a case study from clinical practice, and introduces the revised European framework on sedation in palliative care.

    • Unpacking the revised European framework on sedation in palliative care

      This activity will focus on six aspects of the revised European framework for the use of sedation in palliative care, related to making decisions about whether to use sedation and how to use it, and supporting those involved.

    • Practical challenges in using sedation

      This activity explores some practical challenges that arise when using sedation in palliative care. You will hear a case study from Professor Johan Menten and conclude the fictional story of Mr Angelino.

    • Course summary and further information

      Thank you for making it to the end of this course. There is a final quiz to test your learning from Week 3. We share some useful links, suggestions for reading and thank all the people who have helped us develop this programme.

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

  • Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Describe patterns of dying across the world and common symptoms people experience
  • Explore current palliative care practices and treatment options near the end of life, including sedation
  • Apply evidence-based recommendations on sedation to support decision making about its use and delivery within palliative care contexts
  • Evaluate ethical and clinical evidence about the use of sedation at the end of life across European countries
  • Develop a plan about the use of sedation at the end of life in the context of their own setting

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for health and social care professionals such as physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and social workers.

You may work in palliative care units, hospital-based palliative care teams, hospices, community-based services, in nursing homes, or the wider healthcare system. Alternatively, you may be a family caregiver.

This course will help you provide better care for patients who experience difficult end of life symptoms.

Who will you learn with?

I am a Professor of Palliative Care and Co-Director at the International Observatory on End of Life Care, Lancaster University. I conduct research into palliative care & teach on online PhD Programmes

I am Professor in Palliative and End of Life care, with specific research interests focussing on the role and experiences of family carers in supporting patients approaching the end of life.

I am a Senior Research Associate at Lancaster University's International Observatory on End of Life Care. My background is in health psychology and health research.

Who developed the course?

Lancaster University

Lancaster University is a collegiate university, with a global reputation as a centre for research, scholarship and teaching with an emphasis on employability.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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