Choice: The Hidden Curriculum in Palliative Care

By Paul CarrThank you to Dr. Naheed Dosani and the excellent team at William Osler Health Centre for inspiring this post.What three words describe the essence of palliative care for you? When I asked my friends, family, and colleagues, the most common answers are: pain management, personal and spiritual support, and end of life planning. Those are all key components. But what quickly became apparent to me during my palliative care elective is that excellent palliative care providers embrace the role of enabling patients and families to make well-informed choices.I have taken a long and untraditional route to arrive in the field of medicine. I ’m over 40 and spent 16 years teaching elementary school before starting the MD program. As a teacher, I heard and read a great deal about the Hidden Curriculum: things that are not taught explicitly but are ingrained institutionally and learned through experience. Examples include behavioural pro tocols such as “Do not challenge your preceptors” even though you are told to question authority, and subtle reinforcement of gender roles in institutions that outwardly advocate for individuality. And I argue that patient choice is part of the Hidden Curriculum in palliative care.Choice and Palliative CareThis is the World Health Organization ’s (WHO) website defines palliative care:It is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through th...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - Category: Palliative Care Tags: choice communication goals palliative paul carr Source Type: blogs