Education Offerings
Are you interested in learning more about serious illness? HopeHealth is committed to providing education to our patients, their families and the clinicians in our community.
Resources for our Community
As part of our mission as a community-minded, not-for-profit organization, HopeHealth provides education for people with an interest in hospice, palliative, home care and grief support. Our rich curriculum is designed for:
- Healthcare professionals. Our courses cover the latest trends and research in dementia and Alzheimer’s, advance care planning, symptom management, complex care conversations, and end-of-life care and planning.
- Members of the community. If you are caring for an aging parent, spouse, sibling or friend with a chronic illness, or if you’re dealing with the loss of someone dear to you, we can help.
- Students in our community. HopeHealth is proud to offer internships in nursing, social work, grief support, spiritual care and in many other areas. We partner with the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Salve Regina, Rhode Island College, University of Connecticut, University of Rhode Island, Walden College, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and more for clinical rotation placements. To learn more, contact us at Information@HopeHealthCo.org.
Learn more about HopeHealth.
Education Programs for Clinical Professionals
The following courses are part of our current professional education curriculum. HopeHealth consistently innovates new education courses. Please share with us if there is a topic you'd like us to teach about. Contact our community education team at (800) 338-6555.
View our virtual education offerings for clinical professionals.
Hospice: A Special Way of Caring
Learn the unique benefits of hospice care, when a patient qualifies and how the clinical team supports individuals and families.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Managing Pain at End of Life
This course reviews best practices for identifying and managing pain. Utilizing case scenarios participants will learn to formulate an effective plan of care. Discussions will explore barriers to adequate pain management including the myths and facts about morphine.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/ LPN and SW
Having the Conversation
Participants will learn how to best initiate difficult conversations about goals of care, advance directives and terminal illness. We will discuss methods to determine an individual and family’s wishes as well as how to introduce hospice services.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Palliative Care: Living Your Best Life
Explore how palliative care can improve quality of life by anticipating, preventing and treating symptoms within a supportive family centered approach to care.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
At the Bedside of the Dying Patient
This program will provide clinicians with an understanding of the changes that occur in care needs and symptom burden in the last days, weeks, and months of life. Participants will be able to identify which interventions to provide to ease those burdens on both the patient and the family.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Artificial Nutrition and Hydration at End of Life
This lecture provides accurate and evidence-based information about the use of artificial nutrition and hydration at the end of life as well as tips for communication and decision making. Participants will be able to identify common fears, obstacles and preconceived notions about food and nutrition/hydration at end of life. They will understand the normal dying process and be able to help provide a recommendation including the option of a time limited trial.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Hospice Symptom Management Part 1 & Part 2
This two-part course provides a comprehensive review of the most common symptoms that cause discomfort at end of life. You'll receive assessment tools and case scenarios to promote group interaction and discussion. Part 1 focuses on assessing and treating pain, dyspnea and anxiety. In Part 2 you'll learn how to assess and treat nausea/vomiting, delirium, agitation and constipation.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN per course
Palliative Care and Hospice: A Perfect Partnership
This course will provide practitioners with a detailed understanding of the differences between palliative care and hospice and how they benefit our patients when utilized as partners.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Cardiac Disease and Hospice: When is Your Cardiac Patient Eligible for Hospice?
The program offers participants a closer look at hospice eligibility for patients with cardiac disease. We will discuss the guidelines set forth by Medicare, how to identify when your cardiac patient meets these criteria and how hospice services will benefit these patients.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Dispelling the Myths of Hospice Care
Some of the most significant barriers to a patient with a terminal illness receiving hospice care are misperceptions held by their families and healthcare team alike. In this class we will address your concerns as well as the most common misperception about hospice care.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Dementia: Understanding the Aging Brain
This presentation is intended to educate healthcare professionals on the effects of dementia on the brain and the five senses, how to apply this knowledge to care provided and how to utilize the positive physical approach to connect with the person prior to providing care.
2 hours, 2 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Designing Meaningful Dementia Activities
Understanding the person living with dementia's GEM state, personality type and life history will allow for adjustments to the activity that provide a sense of meaning and joy through their participation in that activity. In this program we will discuss how to identify the GEM state and activities that fit.
1.5 hours, 1.5 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Dementia Symptoms and Behavior Changes
This course will discuss 10 of the most common symptoms and behaviors faced by a person living with dementia and their family. Gain insight from the experts as to why dementia symptoms and behaviors occur and a non-pharmacological intervention to utilize when they do occur.
1.5 hours, 1.5 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
My Family Member Has Dementia: Helping Young People Maintain Their Relationships with Their Loved One
This course is designed to help adults identify ways that dementia affects the relationship between children/teens and their loved one living with dementia. It provides effective communication techniques, educational opportunities and coping mechanisms to support the child in maintaining their connection with their loved one throughout the disease process.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
The Grief Journey of the Dementia Caregiver
We will discuss how grief changes for dementia caregivers at each stage of the disease—from anticipatory grief to bereavement. We’ll examine how to best provide grief intervention and support for caregivers and their families.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Dementia and Hospice: When is Your Patient Living with Dementia Eligible for Hospice?
This program offers participants a focused look at Medicare hospice guidelines when the terminal diagnosis is a form of dementia. We will discuss the qualifying criteria as well as contributing factors that lead to eligibility for hospice care.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Caring for a Patient with Dementia: Disease Progression and Care Tips
In this course we will identify characteristics of each stage of dementia, discuss common challenges in providing care and identify communication and care tips to improve our daily interactions with patients living with dementia.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Hospice and Palliative Care
In this program we will review how racism influences medical practice, identify action steps for healthcare workers to combat racism and discriminatory practices, and identify how our organizations can work to combat these inequities in healthcare.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW; 1 CME available for physicians
Pediatric Hospice: The Psychosocial Aspects of Care
In this course you will receive insight into the psychosocial aspects of caring for pediatric patients at end-of-life. With tips on how to communicate best with the child and their family, you will leave with a bolstered confidence in providing care to such a special population.
1.5 hours; 1.5 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Pediatric Pearls for Non-Pediatric Professionals
This course will provide non-pediatric clinicians expert advice on how to observe and assess pediatric patients. It will also provide you with explanations of the most common pediatric conditions leading to end-of-life care for this population and tools for communicating with both the child and their parents.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Establishing and Maintaining Ethics and Boundaries
This course will broadly discuss the importance of ethical behavior and maintaining professional boundaries in the workplace.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Effective Communication for Healthcare Professionals
Our communication techniques are key to the success of each conversation we have with our patients and their families. In this program we will look at our own communication styles and techniques. We will also look at how we can identify those of the people we are communicating with to get the most out of each conversation.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Advance Directives for Professionals
During this course we will discuss the important information that all healthcare professionals need to know so that they can have successful and productive conversations with their patients about advance directives.
1 hour; 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Understanding the Grief Process: The Cumulative Loss of COVID-19
This course will examine the nature of the normal grief process, how it has been altered by COVID-19, and how grief support interventions have changed in response to it.
1 hour, 1 CE available for RN/LPN and SW
Managing Challenging Behaviors
This interactive program focuses on recognizing common behavioral triggers, and developing techniques for adapting our own reactions to achieve more positive outcomes with combative or resistant individuals. Techniques adapted from Teepa Snow training on caring for patients with dementia.
1 hour
Virtual Dementia Tour
The insight provided by the Virtual Dementia Tour® (VDT) will change how you interact with memory-impaired individuals. Research supports that quality of life improves when caregivers and professionals are better educated and equipped to address the challenges associated with disease progression
1.5 CEs available with the follow-up dementia training for Administrators and RN/LPN
Comfort Feeding
Develop an understanding of the non-verbal cues associated with comfort feeding. Learn what makes food appealing, how to regulate food temperature and best techniques for hand feeding.
30 minutes
MOLST: How and When to Complete
This session focuses on explaining when it is appropriate to complete a MOLST (Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment), how to complete it, section by section, and why it is important to have one.
1 hour
Looking for additional topics?
Contact our community education team at (401) 793-1288 or email CommunityEducation@HopeHealthCo.org.
Complex Care Conversations
Communicating About Serious, Progressive Illness
Complex Care Conversations is a full-day training designed to help clinicians become more comfortable and effective in their conversations with patients facing serious illness.
With the right tools and training, our goal is to have important conversations sooner, more frequently, and more meaningfully throughout the course of a patient’s illness.
In interactive, small group sessions, participants learn:
- Tools for navigating emotional topics with patients and peers
- A framework for goals of care conversations that honor a patient’s wishes and preferences
- A guide to “words that work,” helping introduce difficult topics earlier, more often, and more effectively
Participants also gain expert advice for other aspects of caring for the seriously ill. That includes sessions on assessing a patient’s decision-making capacity, working with surrogate decision-makers, and formulating and discussing a prognosis.
CME and CE credits are available for physicians, NPs, PAs, nurses and social workers.
Who should attend?
Clinicians working with people facing serious illness, including physicians, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, social workers, chaplains, and mental health counselors, will benefit from this course.
Complex Care Conversations is held at 1085 North Main Street, Providence, RI.
Speaker's Bureau
At some point, many of us will be called upon to care for someone who is seriously ill. To help people get through these trying times, HopeHealth leads educational talks that can be held at community organizations, senior centers, schools, faith communities and area businesses.
Led by our community educators, these presentations deliver informative, thought-provoking information and can be tailored to the specific audience. We offer general topics relate to hospice, dementia and Alzheimer’s and other subjects.
Learn more or sign up
If your group is interested in learning more, please email Information@HopeHealthCo.org.
Caregiver Confidence Education Series
We are pleased to offer a series of virtual workshops designed to provide education, support, and resources for those caring for loved ones with a life-limiting illness. Offered in both English and Spanish on Zoom, the workshops are free and open to the public. There will be time for Q&A following each presentation.