After this activity, participants will be able to:

• Recognize methods to support families suffering from grief and bereavement;
• Identify the impact of cultural, social, and psychological health determinants on healthcare decision-making;
• Define the challenges and barriers to accessing palliative care;
• Describe productive team-based approaches to palliative care across the care continuum that support each discipline’s roles and contributions;
• Discuss evidence-based approaches to managing gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms in serious illness;
• Develop an evidence-based approach to effectively manage pain in patients with serious illness, employing a comprehensive range of strategies including opioids, non-opioids, adjuvant analgesics, non-pharmacologic interventions, and alternative pharmacologic measures while prioritizing patient safety;
• Determine the appropriateness of referring patients with serious illnesses to a mental health specialist;
• Assess patient values and preferences for palliative care with a health equity lens;
• Evaluate patients with serious illness for psychosocial distress, opioid risk, depression, and suicide risk;
• Employ communication skills to effectively and empathetically deliver difficult news, and facilitate discussions about prognosis, goals of care, advance care planning, palliative care, and hospice care, while demonstrating cultural competence.