The CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care stands at the forefront of cultivating future palliative care experts, educators, advocates, and leaders. A core mission of the Csu Palliative Care Program is to broaden community awareness regarding the profound benefits of palliative care. These benefits include significantly enhancing the quality of life for individuals facing serious illnesses, boosting patient and family satisfaction with healthcare experiences, and contributing to a reduction in overall healthcare expenditures.
Empowering Educators: The Faculty Toolkit for Palliative Care Integration
Alt text: Two women engaged in discussion at the CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care faculty toolkit workshop, highlighting collaborative learning.
A cornerstone of the CSU palliative care program involves preparing healthcare professionals to deliver exceptional palliative care to the growing population grappling with serious illnesses. The CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care, in collaboration with its consortium of California State University campus partners, is deeply committed to this vital mission.
In 2018, the institute and its partners—California State University San Marcos, California State University, Monterey Bay, and California State University, Fresno—initiated a pilot program focused on developing an invaluable online educational toolkit. This toolkit is specifically designed for college and university faculty, providing resources to seamlessly integrate palliative care content into diverse curricula across various disciplines and departments. This initiative underscores the CSU palliative care program‘s dedication to interdisciplinary education.
The initial version of this toolkit, finalized in November 2018, features five comprehensive online modules. These modules are rich with resources and interactive learning activities, focusing on the fundamental principles of palliative care and addressing critical health disparities within palliative care access and delivery. The modules offer a diverse range of learning resources—cognitive, affective, and psychomotor—including insightful case studies, informative videos, detailed slide presentations, and pre- and post-tests to gauge learning effectiveness.
Starting in January 2019, the toolkit was piloted across the three partner campuses, involving 11 faculty members from disciplines such as psychology, nursing, social work, sociology, human development, gerontology, and kinesiology. These educators incorporated the toolkit into 13 courses during the spring semester of 2019, reaching an impressive 684 undergraduate and graduate students. Feedback from a follow-up survey revealed overwhelming agreement among faculty members that the toolkit effectively met its objectives and employed appropriate learning techniques. Significantly, over half of the faculty indicated that the toolkit enabled them to introduce palliative care content into courses where it was previously absent, demonstrating the broad reach of the CSU palliative care program.
The pilot program continued into the fall semester of 2019 with 13 faculty members across the three campuses. The collected data will be used to refine the toolkit, and the project is set to expand. The institute is actively seeking additional funding to further develop the toolkit and broaden its accessibility to campuses nationwide, amplifying the impact of the CSU palliative care program.
National Symposium: Fostering Academic Excellence in Palliative Care
Alt text: A speaker presenting at the CSU Shiley Institute’s National Symposium for Academic Palliative Care Education and Research, promoting knowledge sharing.
The institute’s annual National Symposium for Academic Palliative Care Education and Research is instrumental in advancing palliative care education and practice. This unique conference is the only one of its kind in the United States specifically dedicated to the needs of academic faculty shaping the future generation of palliative care providers. This symposium is a key component of the CSU palliative care program‘s outreach and leadership.
This two-day event is characterized by robust networking, collaboration, and in-depth engagement focused on innovative and emerging trends in academic palliative care teaching and research. Over the past four years, the symposium has showcased hundreds of projects spanning disciplines from medicine to social work to spiritual care, reflecting the comprehensive approach of the CSU palliative care program.
The symposium attracts a diverse group of faculty, clinicians, and researchers from leading universities nationwide, including CSU campuses such as San Diego State, CSU San Marcos, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State San Bernardino, Sacramento State, San José State, and Sonoma State. Many attendees contribute to the symposium’s rich program through paper sessions, poster presentations, workshops, and plenary sessions, contributing to the collaborative spirit of the CSU palliative care program.
“Sharing my DNP project with individuals who share my passion for education was incredibly energizing,” noted Kate Murphy, DNP, CRNP, AOCN, ACHPN, from Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, a poster presenter at the 2018 symposium. “The conversations with fellow educators about their experiences sparked numerous ideas for future projects and collaborations.” This feedback highlights the symposium’s role in fostering innovation within the CSU palliative care program network.
“Presenting my poster felt like recognition for the months of dedicated work,” she added, emphasizing the validating experience the symposium provides.
While the 2020 National Symposium was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the CSU palliative care program remained active by hosting two virtual events to maintain focus on palliative care education and research. These events featured Dr. Jessica Zitter addressing racial disparities during the pandemic (October 8) and Dr. Michael Fratkin exploring the expansion of telehealth for palliative care (November 5). A virtual poster session was also made accessible throughout the fall, demonstrating the adaptability of the CSU palliative care program. Detailed information can be found at www.csupalliativecare.org/symposium.
Catalyzing Research: Supporting Academic Palliative Care Innovation
Alt text: Participants engaging in a drum circle activity at a CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care event, promoting holistic and experiential learning.
Expanding the evidence base for palliative care is crucial for increasing access and ensuring healthcare professionals possess the most effective strategies for supporting individuals with serious illnesses and their families. The CSU palliative care program recognizes the importance of research in advancing the field.
Since 2016, the Institute has awarded over $105,000 in seed grants, funded by the Gary and Mary West Foundation, to support academic palliative care research. These grants align with the foundation’s mission of enabling seniors to age successfully in place with access to high-quality health and support services, directly supporting the goals of the CSU palliative care program.
Presented over three years at the National Symposium for Academic Palliative Care Education and Research, these grants have funded studies across the nation. Three notable CSU faculty-led projects include:
- “Investigating Communicative Access in Advance Directive Planning for Persons With Aphasia,” led by Dr. Nidhi Mahendra, from San José State. Her research highlighted the strong desire of individuals with aphasia to communicate healthcare preferences and the effectiveness of game-oriented approaches in advance care planning.
- “Somatic Movement With Music Protocol Development and Implementation for Seniors in Hospice Care,” conducted by Dr. Wendell Hanna, from San Francisco State. Dr. Hanna’s project developed protocols combining gentle exercises with music to alleviate stress for seniors in hospice care, demonstrating the benefits of combined interventions.
- “Increasing Palliative Care Within the Latino Community,” spearheaded by Dr. Joy Goebel, from Cal State Long Beach. Dr. Goebel’s study focused on providing holistic palliative care training to community health workers (promotores de salud) to educate families and caregivers, significantly extending the reach of the CSU palliative care program.
Dr. Goebel’s project, in addition to the seed grant, received nearly $55,000 from the UniHealth Foundation through the CSU palliative care program. Over two years, promotores trained through this project educated over 1,950 community members in diverse settings in the Los Angeles area.
The CSU palliative care program continues to seek new funders to support seed grants for the 2021 symposium, underscoring its ongoing commitment to fostering research and innovation in palliative care.
