The purpose of this assignment, located in Module Four-Easing the Burden, Pain and Symptom Management-is to explore a particular symptom associated with an advanced chronic, life-limiting, illness or an acute life-threatening event, it’s impact on the quality of life for patients living with that illness and their families, and to illustrate how we can manage symptoms collaboratively with patients and families.
This assignment should be done after completion of Module Four, as the content, critical thinking, and learning activities are relevant to the assignment.
- choose a symptom that typically is burdensome for the patient’s illness/condition (patient population) that you have chosen to focus on in this course
- Examples include pain, nausea, constipation, itch etc.
- Develop a case situation describing a particular person and their significant others (the term family is used to represent significant others).
- Include a brief description of their lifestyle pre-illness, changes that have taken place as a result of their illness and any other information related to their meaningful life experience and how it is impacted by your chosen symptom.
- Outline a palliative approach to assessing and managing the symptom. Use the case to illustrate how you will individualize the symptom management plan
This assignment will be presented in the form of a PowerPoint presentation that will be used to share your knowledge with your classmates.
Evaluation Criteria – Assignment #1A
Assignment 1A is worth 30% of your final grade. The marks breakdown follows below.
Content | Mark |
The significance of this symptom to your patient population of interest for example, the frequency with which the symptom occurs | 4 |
The pathophysiology of the symptom within this patient’s illness trajectory | 4 |
How you would assess the symptom, including the impact of the symptom on the patient’s and family’s quality of life | 7 |
What options might be available for management of this symptom for the patient and family, including disease management and the use of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to palliating the symptom | 7 |
The symptom management plan which you develop in partnership with the patient/family, acknowledging their identified concerns, patient’s stage of illness, and the patient and family’s perspectives on the burdens and benefits of the possible interventions | 8 |
Appropriate references to support the ideas presented in your PowerPoint, including materials that could be used for patient and family education | 5 |
This PowerPoint should be no longer than 40 slides. Details not included in the information on the slide can be inserted into the notes section of the PowerPoint.
Due date: posted to the Assignment 1A Discussion Topic AND Assignment 1A Dropbox located in the Activities Menu by Sunday at midnight at the end of Week 8.