Professional Resources

Realizing the complex issues healthcare professionals face when treating patients with life-limiting illness, Closure compiled some useful professional resources.

The EPEC Project
www.epec.net/EPEC/Webpages/index.cfm

The Education in Palliative Care and End of Life Project (EPEC) is an initiative that provides training in palliative and end-of-life care to healthcare professionals. EPEC’s development began in 1997 when medicine had generated increased capacity in palliative care and symptom management but struggled to capture the proper balance between curative approaches and the need to ameliorate suffering due to chronic or incurable disease. Linda L. Emanuel, MD, PhD, Charles F. von Gunten, MD, PhD and Frank D. Ferris, MD, along with nationally-respected palliative care leaders from across the country, developed the EPEC Curriculum to help achieve the balance.

EPERC
www.eperc.mcw.edu/

The End of Life/Palliative Education Resource Center was created to be a resource to End of Life/Palliative healthcare professionals through support from the Medical College of Wisconsin. EPERC’s Web site is intended to support individuals involved in the design, implementation and/or evaluation of End-of-Life/Palliative education for physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals. More specifically, the site has been designed for use by medical school course/clerkship directors, residency and continuing education program directors, medical faculty, community preceptors or other professionals who are (or will be) involved in providing EOL instruction to healthcare professionals in training.

EndLink
endlink.lurie.northwestern.edu/

EndLink was developed as an educational resource for people involved in end-of-life care. Rather than providing answers, EndLink attempts to offer frameworks for thinking about caring for dying individuals and their families. The content of the Web site was written primarily for healthcare professionals who work with dying patients and their families. The material presented on the site encompasses the complex, multidimensional considerations involved in caring for individuals at the end of life.

The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health
http://www.gwumc.edu/gwish/soerce/

Educational and clinical resources in spirituality, religion, and health
The Spirituality and Health Online Education and Resource Center (SOERCE) aims to be the premiere online location for educational and clinical resources in the fields of spirituality, religion, and health.