Course Summary

Human comfort, dignity, and a sense of peace are the ideal outcomes of both palliative and hospice care. Palliative care focuses on providing patients with serious illnesses an optimal quality of life to alleviate both the physical pain and the emotional stress caused by the illness. Hospice care is focused on maximizing the quality of life for those in the final stages of a serious illness. Members of the interprofessional health team have key roles in both palliative and hospice care settings where end-of-life needs are being met.

Course Format

Homestudy

Course Syllabus

• Introduction
• Palliative and Hospice Approaches to Holistic Care
  • Interprofessional Health Team Approach
• Multidimensional Aspects of Palliative Care
  • Barriers to Effective Pain Control
  • Pain Medication and Sedation
  • Treatment of Other Common Symptoms
• Chronic Illness and Promoting Independence
  • Rehabilitation
  • Surgical Procedures
  • Emotional and Spiritual Care
• Hospice Care: End of Life
  • A Brief History of Hospice Care
  • Course of Care
  • End-of-Life and Death
  • Respite and Caregiver Support
  • Bereavement Counseling
• Case Studies: Pediatric Palliative Care
  • Case 1: 15-year-old Female
  • Case 2: 18-month-old Child
• Case Study: Adult In-Home Hospice Care
• Case Study 2: Adult Palliative Care
• Summary

Author

Marilyn Lajoie, MD, DC, CCSP

Dr. Marilyn Lajoie obtained her medical degree from Saba University School of Medicine in 1999, Her residency began with one year of Anatomical and Surgical Pathology at Orlando Regional Medical Center, before transferring within the same post-graduate residency program to Internal Medicine. Upon completion of residency, she went into private practice in Orlando, where she specialized in Internal Medicine, Sports Medicine and Rehab, as well as acute and chronic pain management. Before becoming a medical doctor, she had practiced as a Chiropractic Physician, graduating from New York Chiropractic College in 1980, practicing initially on Long Island, N.Y., before moving to Florida where she had a successful chiropractic practice and physical rehabilitation center, and gained recognition as a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician. Dr. Lajoie was also the Director of Physical Therapy at Horizon Hospital, a residential and outpatient psychiatric hospital, and later, continued in the same capacity at Horizon’s sister psychiatric hospital in Brooksville, Florida. Dr. Lajoie maintained her chiropractic license and continued to practice both Internal Medicine and Chiropractic throughout private practice, until moving to the Veterans Healthcare System in 2014. Continuing in both fields, she became the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Montana VA, where she completed her service in 2021. Dr. Lajoie now works predominantly in telemedicine, and in an Expert Witness capacity for both medical and chiropractic cases. Still living in Montana, she enjoys being able to treat not only the rural areas of the state through this technology, but also patients across the US where she maintains multiple active state licenses. She and her husband also own a llama ranch with over thirty llamas that are hand selected for rare genetics. At the llama ranch, the public is invited to come and visit to learn about these elegant creatures, and to see ranch life firsthand – llama style! Dr. Lajoie and her husband have six adult children, as well as seven dogs.