AMOREM Team Attends Communication Training in Oncology
Valdese- AMOREM’s Director of Faith Outreach, Rev. Curtis Singleton and Director of Palliative Medicine, Freda Cowan, DNP, FNP-BC and ACHPN, attended a spiritual care communication training for oncology patients.
AMOREM, formerly Burke Hospice and Palliative Care and Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care has committed to provide spiritual support to all the patients and families it serves.
The Interprofessional Communication Curriculum conference was hosted by City of Hope and the National Cancer Institute and was held in Portland, Oregon. The continued education course was designed to educate participants from all disciplines on the benefits of spiritual care. Six educators, each from different disciplines, led attendees through coursework and engaging learning opportunities.
“Research, or what we like to call ‘settled science’, has proven that spiritual care is a vital part of end-of-life care,” says Singleton.
Not only is spiritual care essential in hospice, but it is also essential for palliative medicine patients and those utilizing grief support services. The practice and engagement at the ICC conference will invite all disciplines into the necessity of spiritual care in their practices.
“We were involved in group sessions with nurse practitioners, social workers and chaplains from all over the United States, including Hawaii,” says Cowan. “The main focus was communication among professionals within the community and patients with serious illness.”
During their coursework at the conference, Cowan and Singleton participated in role playing exercises, case studies, verbal, written and logical styles of learning that related to different domains across all stages of cancer.
Singleton and Cowan will now embark on a year-long project where they will educate each discipline of AMOREM on spiritual care needs and produce measurable outcomes.
“The ICC conference will prove to be of benefit to all clinicians, staff, patients and their families when all disciplines begin implementing the basics of spiritual care into their practices” states Singleton.