This is the second psychosocial oncology course offered through the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology (CAPO) IPODE* project. It provides graduate students in 5 disciplines (medicine, nursing, psychology, social work and spiritual care) with an opportunity to explore the interprofessional care of families experiencing cancer along the illness trajectory from diagnosis through to bereavement or long term survivorship.
Students from other disciplines also may be interested and are welcome. Using case based learning in small interprofessional groups, students will explore a variety of key learning themes relevant to the interprofessional care of families. Themes that will be addressed include: family theory, models of family and couple counseling/therapy, family assessment, therapeutic conversations and interventions.
Case examples will be drawn from the experience of families across the cancer illness trajectory, from diagnosis through to death and dying, bereavement and long term survivorship. Small group work will allow students to develop a rich understanding of the cancer experience from the perspective of families, as well as competency in family assessment, intervention, interprofessional collaboration, and cultural safety. Attention to diversity will be integrated throughout the course.
*IPOPE is the Interprofessional Psychosocial Oncology Distance Education project (http://www.ipode.ca/)