Do you want to improve your ability to care for people with a life-limiting illness?
The Victorian Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA) provides a broad range of health care professionals with the opportunity to increase their experience, knowledge and skills in palliative care.
PEPA IS FREE!
PEPA is free for all eligible health practitioners and care workers, including Aboriginal health workers, allied health, medical practitioners, nurses, aged care and disability care workers and paramedics. Employers or self-employed participants can apply for an honorarium allowance to assist with costs associated with back-fill during placements. Rural participants may be eligible for reimbursement of travel, meal and accommodation costs.
PALLIATIVE APPROACH WORKSHOPS
You can book to attend a free, one-day workshop to learn more about the palliative approach to care in any setting, including management of common symptoms and supporting patients and care givers.
The workshops have been specifically designed for health professionals working in Victorian Aboriginal, aged care, health, disability, community care, nursing and medical sectors.
Workshops cover topics including:
- The palliative approach to care
- Common challenges for patients, families and caregivers
- Caring for the professional caregiver
- Communication in palliative care
- Symptom management
- Grief and loss
- Advance care planning and ethics
Register for a workshop
Click Here
SUPERVISED CLINICAL PLACEMENTS
Once you have completed a workshop you can apply to take part in a supervised clinical placement in a specialist palliative care service. This is a great way to increase your confidence, skills and knowledge in caring for patients with a life-limiting illness.
Working side-by-side with palliative care professionals in specialist palliative care services gives you the ability to see best practice care in action, ask questions and make ongoing connections with colleagues you can refer to for years to come. Your placement can be arranged in a single service or a range of services, based on your personal learning needs.
Two-to-four day supervised clinical placements at specialist palliative care services in Victoria will enable you to:
- Gain palliative care clinical skills
- Increase your understanding of how to provide a palliative approach to care
- Improve your ability to identify the needs of people with a serious illness
- Improve your understanding of family and carer challenges
- Strengthen your relationships with palliative care services
- Identify personal caring challenges and coping strategies
- Earn continuing professional development points
Reverse Placements
PEPA Victoria provides individual organisations with the opportunity for one of our experienced Educator/Facilitators to come to your workplace and undertake a 2-4 day reverse placement. This entails the provision of workshop content and specialist support to enable your team/s to review and build systems to support provision of a palliative approach that is specific to the client base you care for. A reverse placement requires team members to be available throughout the course of the placement. For more information please see the Information Guide for Placements
Apply for a Placement
Click Here
PEPA Mentors
Full day Mentor training is provided on a regular basis by PEPA Victoria to prepare individuals from specialist services to act as Host site Mentors for PEPA placement participants. All Host sites are encouraged to nominate staff to attend Mentor training to enable them to provide a supportive learning environment for placement participants.
Mentor training is also provided for individuals working in non- palliative care settings who have attended a Palliative Approach workshop and undertaken an individual placement and wish to act as a Palliative Care Champion/Support person in their workplace.
Mentor workshops are conducted regularly and you can apply to attend by clicking on this link. Click here
It is recommended that individuals wanting to undertake Mentor training read the Mentor Guide prior to registering.
click here
POST-PLACEMENT SUPPORT ACTIVITIES
The aim of these activities is to provide opportunities for further professional development, building on the experience gained on the clinical placement. Communities of Practice will be in place in 2024 for individuals who have completed Mentor training and who have undertaken placements in Victoria to enable them to engage in ongoing learning and peer support.
Learn More About PEPA
PEPA National site - Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach
Watch these informative short videos on the PEPA YouTube channel
PEPA Victoria Contact:
Molly Carlile AM
PEPA Victoria Manager
Phone: 03 9231 1926
Email: pepa@svha.org.au
Michelle Foot
PEPA Victoria Administration Officer
Phone: 03 9231 1926
Email: pepa@svha.org.au
Kerrie Cunningham
PEPA Victoria Palliative Nurse Educator
Phone: 03 9231 1926
Email: pepa@svha.org.au
Imogen Nund Dam
IPEPA Victoria Project Officer
Phone: 03 9231 1926
Email: pepa@svha.org.au