Pain and Palliative Care II

The course offers in-depth knowledge about the disciplines chronic pain and palliative care and elaborates further on topics covered in Pain and palliative care I. The course aims at giving the participants thorough knowledge and skills related to diagnostics, clinical examination, treatment and follow-up of patients with malignant and non-malignant diseases. Standardised care pathways will be applied as a method to ensure optimal patient management and the course will give insight into collaboration across professions. Pain and palliative care in children, elderly and dying patients as well as children as family members will be given special attention.
The course will focus on palliative care as a discipline relevant for patients with different diseases and for the complete cancer disease trajectory. This includes curative treatment, late side effects after ant-cancer treatment and their rehabilitation, life-prolonging treatment, and end-of-life care. How health care providers can offer psychological and existential care for patients with chronic pain and/or advanced disease and their caregivers will be in focus.
Within the pain field, pathophysiology and pharmacology will be essential additional to a more in-depth understanding of the bio-psycho-social pain model. The influence of pain on the musculoskeletal system will also be covered.

After completing this course, the student should:
-know about the pathophysiology of pain and other symptoms related to advanced disease
-know about treatment of cancer diseases and non-malignant diseases
-have gained thorough knowledge about assessment, diagnostics, observation and evaluation of patients suffering from different pain conditions and other subjective symptoms
-have gained thorough knowledge of pharmacological treatment, interventions and non-medical treatment for various pain conditions in different patient groups
-know the principles for physical and mental rehabilitation of patients suffering from long-term pain and late side effects after cancer treatment
-know important principles, and have good knowledge of, treatment and care of seriously ill patients, children and older people
-know how to deal with psychological and spiritual conditions occurring with the patients and their next of kin
-be thoroughly familiar with standardized patient trajectories and multidisciplinary cooperation within different professions at different levels in the health care system

Lectures and group exercises. Exercises (combination of individual and group work) will have to be presented. The course is given the weeks the master programme Clinical Health Science has intensive education.
The course may be cancelled if too few students register for examination. In re-scheduled examinations, new assessment or few registered students the assessment form may be changed.