PDF version - National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization

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In the past five years, members of
the HPC-SIG have made inroads
in three key ways:
• Inter-professional Education:
We have been selected to
present several educational
sessions related to clinical
specialties within our
profession at the annual
APTA Combined Section
Meeting (typically held each
February).
• Outcomes Research: We
have also published research
to identify the impact of our
interventions in a hospice
population (see the bibliography
at the end of this article).
• Clinical Practice: We have
also begun the development
of an outcomes measure
toolbox for the assessment of
patients in hospice.
Our efforts have also involved
similar initiatives at the
international level, with recent
presentations at the World Congress
of Physical Therapy (WCPT) in
Amsterdam in 2011. More recently,
Chris Wilson, the vice chair of
our HPC-SIG, has worked with the
WCPT to establish an international
Hospice and Palliative Care Special
Interest Group for the world
community of physical therapists.
Opportunities for a
Future Alliance
As we all know, great minds
think alike and, thus, a
prominent initiative of the APTA
HPC-SIG is the establishment
of formal liaisons with other
leading organizations related to
hospice and palliative care.
Not surprisingly, NHPCO was
the foremost of such professional
groups, and in the past few
months, members of the HPC-SIG
have enjoyed several productive
discussions with NCHPP Allied
Therapist Section leader, Valerie
Hartman, RN, CHPN, CTRN,
which have underscored our
shared values and mission.
In the course of our discussions,
we have identified several ways
in which our organizations can
align in the service of optimizing
end-of-life care for all members
of society. The first is the sharing
of resources, particularly those
related to clinical assessment
measures. Both of our
organizations also have helpful
websites, educational conferences,
and most importantly, a cadre
of passionate professionals with
a vision for delivering the best
possible services to our patients.
Other countless opportunities
also exist, such as reciprocal
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