PALPRAC

Navigating Conversations and Concerns around Nutrition and Hydration at End-of-Life

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Short course

Course type

1 hour

Study time

Online

Mode of learning

3 CPD points

3 Clinical
(70% average required)

Course overview

The Navigating Conversations and Concerns around Nutrition and Hydration at End-of-Life course is designed for South African Doctors, Interns and Nurses. Eating and drinking are deeply human acts tied to comfort, culture, and connection, yet as people near the end of life, natural body changes reduce appetite and thirst.

For families and care teams, these changes can be emotionally challenging and often spark difficult questions or misconceptions. This course aims to equip participants with the evidence, ethical considerations, and practical communication skills needed to guide patients and families through these sensitive conversations - focusing always on comfort, dignity, and shared decision-making while ensuring care is individualised and culturally respectful.

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Who is this course for?

South African Doctors, Interns, Nurses and Pharmacists

Required qualification

The necessary healthcare qualifications for doctors, nurses and pharmacists (or students of these)

Course level

This course is aimed at a Beginner-Intermediate Level. 

Develop your professional skills

Why choose this course?

The Learning Objectives of this course include being able to:

  1. Describe normal physiological changes in nutrition and hydration needs during the dying process
  2. Recognise common myths and fears around feeding and fluid support in terminal illness
  3. Explain the evidence on the benefits and harms of artificial nutrition (enteral/parenteral)and hydration
  4. Apply ethical principles and shared-decision frameworks when discussing feeding and fluids
  5. Use empathetic communication strategies to explore patient and family values and preferences
  6. Co-create individualised comfort-focused nutrition and hydration plans

About the academic institution

PALPRAC is a national network of healthcare professionals dedicated to improving quality of life for people living with serious illness. Founded in 2018, we bring together doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals to deliver compassionate, person-centred palliative care across Southern Africa. Through education, advocacy, and collaboration, we equip multidisciplinary teams to relieve suffering, support dignity, and honour what matters most to patients and their families. We support healthcare professionals to be change agents in their own settings, and we engage with the wider health system to drive the changes needed to ensure everyone has access to quality palliative care. All healthcare professionals are welcome to join, with membership options to suit every role and level of experience.

Over 300 members

Various healthcare providers 

Spread across South Africa

PALPRAC contact info

  info@palprac.org

Follow PALRAC on social media

Course Lessons

  • Certificate included

    Upon successful completion of this course - including achieving a minimum score of 70% in the assessment(s), as required by the HPCSA - you will receive a certificate of completion from PALPRAC, a name synonymous with excellence in professional development.

 

Course developer

Specialist Emergency Physician and Palliative Care Doctor
Dr Kat Evans
Dr Evans is a Specialist Emergency Medicine Physician at Mitchells Plain Hospital, Cape Town, with a strong Emergency Medical Services background that shaped her career. She is passionate about finding simple, practical solutions to complex challenges in resource-limited settings.

Alongside her emergency medicine expertise, Dr Katya holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Palliative Medicine (Adults) from UCT and is busy with her PhD in the topic of Preventable Emergency Department Visits in PC patients. This combination equips her to teach the nuanced conversations around nutrition, hydration, and comfort at the end of life, particularly in challenging clinical environments.
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Available on mobile and web

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