PALL8439 Suffering, Futility and Ethics in Palliative Care

This explores complex issues within palliative care practice - refractory symptoms, clinical futility in decision-making, quality of life, ethical and legal considerations in palliative care and current and future trends in palliative care.

This topic aims to give palliative care practitioners the opportunity to build upon core material in the Palliative Clinical Management topics that will assist them to critically assess and address complex management issues. The topic brings together people from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to work together in appraisal, assessment and problem solving required of interdisciplinary teams in this area. The topic aims to develop independent critical thinkers who will guide the practice of palliative care into the next stage of its development.

1. Define "refractory" symptoms; discuss the approach to management of these and their impact on patients, families and professionals involved in their care
2. Explore the concept of clinical futility as it relates to palliative clinical management and differentiate it from futility and clinical decision making
3. Identify and critique the clinical opportunities and responses to reported deathbed phenomena of patients
4. Discuss the relationship between current ethical and legal debates and current societal value systems, including expectations of health care