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PEPA - Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach

PEPA placements are now available!

PEPA placements are currently available with specialist palliative care services in Queensland for the period to 30th June 2014. Some funding is available to employers for backfill, and to applicants for travel and accommodation.

WELCOME TO PEPA

Target Group:

PEPA is targeted at all primary health care workers with an interest in palliative care.

The specific aims of PEPA are to:

Enhance the skills and expertise of health care providers in providing care for people who are living with a life-limiting illness and their families
Support and enhance the skills of groups working collaboratively across the professional boundaries
Develop and explore opportunities for health care providers from a range of areas of practice to gain professional exposure to, and experience in, palliative care
Develop opportunities for increasing the skills and knowledge of health care providers in the care of people who are living with a life-limiting illness.

Context:

“Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.”

Reference: World Health Organisation definition of palliative care, available at www.who.int/cancer/palliative/definition/en (Accessed August 2012)

WHAT IS PEPA?

The Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA) is a national program established to provide health care workers with an opportunity to develop skills in the palliative approach by participating in workshops or undertaking a workforce placement with a specialist palliative care service (host site) within a metropolitan or larger peri-urban service. PEPA is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing through the National Palliative Care Program.

The PEPA learning experience is to help you:

Demonstrate a clear understanding of the principles of palliative care;
Identify the needs of patients with a life-limiting illness and their family;
Identify the role of your discipline in managing problems faced by this group of patients;
Identify services and resources that you can access for your patients;
Recognise own knowledge base and scope of practice with regard to optimal palliative care provision; and
Identify personal coping strategies to effectively manage the personal issues related to working in this field.