Cultivating Curiosity in Chronic Illness Care

As treatments advance, more people are living longer with serious illnesses that in the past would have resulted in significantly limited lifespans. This interactive class will invite us to explore the impact of how illnesses that even recently might have been perceived as a “death sentence” might now be “managed” as a “chronic illness” requires adjustments for all parties – patients, their care partners, families, and clinicians. Living with the knowledge that treatments may be needed for years (or perhaps decades), and that any “twinge” may be an early indicator of progression can challenge even the most resilient. Health social workers play an important role in normalizing concerns, managing expectations, exploring the influence of culture, supporting adaptive coping, and in identifying resources to address the impact of social drivers on health. Yet, unfortunately, these are precisely the patients most likely to be missed with our referral “triggers.” We’ll discuss the importance of comprehensive screening, assessments and the cultivation of curiosity in chronic illness care so that we might better serve this vulnerable population.

Shirley Otis-Green is the founder of Collaborative Caring, a consulting practice dedicated to enhancing excellence in the delivery of contextualized care to more equitably address the symptoms and stress of serious illness. Her education, research and consultation efforts focus on quality of life, interprofessional leadership and creating meaningful organizational change. As Principal Investigator on studies with over $3.5 million in external funding, her work has been recognized with numerous awards and disseminated through more than 100 publications and 500 professional presentations. Shirley is a Co-Investigator and Co-Project Director of the National Cancer Institute-funded educational grant, ESPEC Oncology: Transforming Psychosocial and Palliative Cancer Care - a national workforce initiative designed to enhance the leadership and clinical quality improvement skills of oncology social workers. She was recently selected as an expert panelist by the National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care to update the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care. Shirley is a National Association of Social Workers Pioneer, California Health Care Foundation Leadership Fellow and a Distinguished Social Work Practitioner in the National Academies of Practice. She was among the first to receive a Master of Arts in Health Research - Palliative Care from Lancaster University in Great Britain, and is co-editor of the The Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work (Second Edition). 

Continuing Education Hours

Completion of this class will result in the receipt of two and one-half (2.5) continuing education hours. CEHs are not awarded for partial completion of the class.

You will receive the Zoom link for joining the class by the day before the class. IF YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE LINK BY THIS TIME, PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER. 

You will need a computer and a reliable WiFi connection. The computer may be a desktop or a laptop. It may be an Apple or Windows computer.

If you have never used Zoom before, you will likely be prompted to download an applet, which is a small program that allows Zoom to communicate with your computer. This is safe and you will need to do this to join the class.

It is NOT advised that you participate using a table (e.g., an iPad) or a cellular phone. The software is not optimized for these devices.

Please plan to join the online class 15 minutes before the start time to be sure that you don’t have any problems connecting. We cannot provide technical support to you and refunds won’t be offered if you have technical problems. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact us at [email protected] at least a few days before the class.

Please contact [email protected] if you have questions, concerns, or grievances about this course, or if you need ADA accommodations.

Course Interaction and System Requirements

This live webinar takes place on Zoom and is fully interactive. Attendees may ask and answer questions throughout the presentation and participate in instructor-led discussions.

Operating systems

• Windows:
  • Windows 11
  • Windows 10
    Note: Devices running Windows 10 must run Windows 10 Home, Pro, or Enterprise. S Mode is not supported.
• macOS:
  • macOS X (10.15) or later
• Linux:
  • Ubuntu 20.04 or higher
  • Mint 20 or higher
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 or higher
  • Oracle Linux 9.0 or higher
  • CentOS 9 or higher
  • Fedora 32 or higher
  • OpenSUSE 16 or higher
  • Debian 11 or higher
  • ArchLinux (64-bit only)
  • Other Linux OS with GCC 9.4 or higher

Internet Browser

• Desktop
  • Chrome: Within the current and past 2 versions
  • Firefox: Within the current and past 2 versions
  • Edge: Within the current and past 2 versions
  • Safari: Within the current and past 2 versions
• Mobile
  • Safari: Within the current and past 2 versions
  • Chrome: Within the current and past 2 versions
  • Firefox: Within the current and past 2 versions

Broadband Internet connection

Cable, High-speed DSL & any other medium that is internet accessible.