Veterans

Education in Palliative & End-of-Life Care (EPEC) for Veterans addresses the specific needs of veterans and their families and consists of 27 modules of core palliative care content. This curriculum was written, adapted and reviewed by more than 100 members of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the EPEC team and has been disseminated to more than 250 trainers in all 21 VISNs.

This project was funded by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and is directed by F. Amos Bailey, MD, of the Birmingham VA Medical Center and the University of Alabama, and Joshua Hauser, MD, of EPEC, Northwestern University and the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago.

Part of the EPEC for Veterans curriculum is available through the VA TMS system. For access, VA employees can log on to TMS.

Topics covered:

Goals of Care
Advance Care Planning
Breaking Bad News
Pain Management
Psychological Symptoms
GI Symptoms
Constitutional Symptoms
Dyspnea
Comprehensive Whole Patient Assessment
Psychosocial Issues
The Experiences of Veterans from Different War Eras
Life-Sustaining Treatments
Last Hours of Living
Loss, Grief and Bereavement
Requests to Hasten Death
Sudden Illness
Professional Self-Care
Spirituality in Palliative Care
Teamwork in Palliative Care

The curriculum text includes both clinical content and trainer’s notes of suggested teaching approaches. For more information or information on how to obtain these materials, please contact us.