Friday, August 18, 2017

The Interdisciplinary Thought Behind IDC 2017

By Joan Harrold, MD, MPH, FACP, FAAHPM
Medical Director/Vice President of Medical Services
Hospice & Community Care, Lancaster, PA
Chair of NHPCO’s Professional Education Committee


In selecting the content for the 2017 Interdisciplinary Conference, we’ve pulled together an incredible group of people from the field of hospice and palliative care to answer some of the questions that are especially difficult for many programs. How to approach chronic pain in cancer survivors (especially in hospice when cancer is not an active diagnosis)?  How to manage addiction issues? What do studies really say about cannabis use? The IDC17 will offer variety of different sessions that really matter how we deliver care to people. 

While I know that it can be a sacrifice for programs to send people to an onsite educational program like this, it is incredibly valuable for both the individuals who attend and for the organizations that send them. First, an onsite program can gather many more people from different disciplines, cover a broader range of session topics, and offer many more presenters—all in a very short period of time. So while it may seem like it takes more time and money, it’s actually very efficient. Even more so if you plan beforehand to have your staff come home with handouts, other resources, and information to share with their colleagues.  The education shouldn’t stop with a handful of staff who attend the conference in person. 

Second, people who gather “in person” have the opportunity to follow up on what they learn.  Not just the questions you might ask during a presentation, but even more in depth conversation following a session. I’ve presented NHPCO webinars and been happy to answer questions that were emailed afterwards. I can often help more, however, when someone approaches in person and says, “I’m doing something like that, and I want to pick your brain.” You can often make time for a concentrated conversation about what matters to that person right then and there.

I think we can be a little blasé about “networking” at conferences and the benefits that offers. However, it goes beyond meeting other people from other places and having a good time; it’s actually taking the educational elements and figuring out very quickly how they apply to your program. Taking resources that matter to you. Having an intensive conversation with a presenter—or other attendee—about issues that really matter to your program. And if people go with this idea in mind, that they’re going to bring information back, it really can enrich their program.  

One of the things we’ve done for years at my organization is divvy up the sessions before the conference begins. After all, this is not like swimming after eating—you don’t need a buddy at every session! If you send three people and they’re all attending different sessions, they can come home with much more information than you would get in the same amount of time listening to webinars or reading articles. And this is an interdisciplinary conference, it’s not just for one discipline. It’s not just the docs; it’s not just the nurses. The psycho-social, spiritual, bereavement staff, volunteers, regulatory and quality professionals and interdisciplinary team leaders are such an integral part of our teams. They need to get the same kind of experience and bring it back. I think this is incredibly valuable way to learn. 

I’m so proud of the work that NHPCO’s professional education committee and conference planning committee members have done to create this very special event, the 2017 Interdisciplinary Conference. I hope many people from across the field will join us in San Diego this September.
 
2017 Interdisciplinary Conference:
Strengthen Your Organization: Care, Compliance, Quality

San Diego Marriott Marquis and Marina, San Diego, CA
Education Programs and Preconference Seminars: September 16-17, 2017
Main Conference: September 18-20, 2017

Register today – team discounts available.

(Look for a special registration discount on Monday & Tuesday, August 21 & 21 only!)


 

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