Glasgow philosophers Dr Jennifer Corns and Professor Ben Colburn have developed an e-learning module with Macmillan Cancer Support to help palliative care practitioners understand suffering in life-limiting illness, using interactive learning to develop strategies to counteract this by enriching agency in end of life care.

Dr Corns and Professor Colburn have drawn on their original research to design the module. Drawing on Corns's novel understanding of suffering as significantly disrupted agency, the module introduces palliative care practitioners to Corns' and Colburn's key philosophical contributions in the areas of pain, suffering, agency and autonomy.

Corns and Colburn weave together theoretical information with practical examples, including from their past collaborative work with external partners like the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, Glasgow. Through a series of practical exercises and original resources, the module supports practitioners in understanding how their distinctive professional role can empower them to alleviate suffering by targeting disruptions to agency. The emphasis is on working collaboratively with individuals to identify particular challenges, on upholding individual autonomy when faced with difficult decisions about what to prioritise in end of life care, and on enriching agency through new or extended activities.

The module will be launched at a Macmillan Cancer Support webinar on Wednesday 13 September, and is the latest resource in Macmillan's Learning Hub, a suite of free education and training resources for health and social care professionals working in cancer care.

 

Webinar: Understanding and enriching agency in palliative and end of life care

Date and time: Wednesday 13 September, 12.30pm – 1.30pm

Life-limiting illness often disrupts a person’s agency - ‘agency’ refers to the things we do to survive, succeed and thrive as human beings.

In this webinar, Macmillan will be joined by Dr Jennifer Corns and Professor Ben Colburn from the University of Glasgow to launch an exciting new e-learning module that they have developed in collaboration with Macmillan: “Understanding and enriching agency in palliative and end of life care”. The webinar will introduce the module, explore the concept of ‘agency’ and the important role that agency plays in alleviating suffering in palliative and end of life care. 

This webinar is for people working in palliative and end of life care who want to enhance their understanding of suffering in palliative and end of life care and how to alleviate it.

To find out more and book your place, select here.

 

 

First published: 4 September 2023

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