Educational Centre

For who is the course designed?

This 6-month course is designed for those who are interested to cooperate with our organization and who would like to participate in activities that we organize, e.g. become monitors at summer camps for children and adolescents who have lost a loved one. The course is a preparation course for working with children and families after loss.

After successful completion of the course, participants may be offered volunteer work or, in certain cases, employment contract.

Characteristics of the training

The training combines theory and practice. Many of the exercises are experiential. We use the method of Creative Accompaniment, a holistic working model that integrates psychodynamic principles, gestalt therapy and psychodrama.

Participants have to be prepared to work at an intense emotional level. An amount of reading and work online is an essential part of the course. The course is conducted in English; therefore a good command of the language is necessary.

The course has been created and will be conducted by Iván Gómez García.

Who can apply?

The course is suitable for professionals who are in contact with bereaved children and families – doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, psychotherapists, pedagogues, play therapists, physiotherapists, chaplains and students of these fields interested in bereavement.

How to apply?

You can apply online.

Criteria for admission

All applicants will be invited for a personal interview at Plamienok. Successful applicants will be informed and a contract will be signed with them.

Dates of workshops

20.-21.1.2018
17.-18.2.2018
17.-18.3.2018
21.-22.4.2018
19.-20.5.2018
16.-17.6.2018

Number of participants

Up to 22

Timetable and place of workshops

The training takes place at Plamienok Educational Centre, Zadunajska 6, 851 01 Bratislava.

map

The course consists of six weekend workshops

Saturdays from 9:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:00

Sundays from 9:00 to 13:00

Fees

Participant fee for all of the six workshops is 240€ for students and 300€ for professionals.

Applicants facing a difficult financial situation can ask the hospice management for special conditions of payment.

Contact person

If you are interested, please contact: Daša Stašová, stasova@plamienok.sk, +421 907 880 985

Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava together and Plamienok offer an elective subject:

PRINCIPLES OF TREATMENT AND CARE OF A TERMINALLY ILL CHILD AND FAMILY IN A CHILDREN MOBILE HOSPICE

Who can apply

Students in the 3rd - 6th year of medical training and students of other helping professions
In case the capacity of the room (35 people) will not be filled, we can accept other applicants as well.
Students of medicine at Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University can apply via admission office of the Faculty as well.

Form and scope of teaching

• 24 hours (12 weeks x 2 hours) in the form of lectures and seminars, on Thursdays from 14:00 until 16:00

Aim of the subject

To help young people to get basic awareness about the possibilities of helping terminally ill children and their families

Subjects

• Children hospice Plamienok, possibilities of help and functioning.
• My child patient is terminally ill, what now? Decision making and treatment of terminally ill children.
• Announcing terminal diagnosis.
• Palliative care, general principles of symptom control. Case study of a family.
• Verbal and non verbal communication in a family with a dying child.
• Nursing care in family environment.
• Social aspects of a terminal disease.
• Grieving and life after loss.
• Spiritual accompaniment of families with a dying child.
• Final days and hours – treatment and accompaniment.
• Taking care of ourselves, prevention of burn out syndrome.
• Summing-up and presentation of essays. Possibilities of cooperation.

Supervisor of the subject

• Doc. MUDr. Emília Kaiserová, CSc

Lecturers

• MUDr. Mária Jasenková
• Prof. Rubén Bild M. A. PhD.
• Iván Gómez García
• MUDr. Ondrej Kysel
• Mgr. Katarína Maťová
• Mgr. Lucia Kostická
• Hana Kolibiarová, MSW

Assessment and completion of the subject: credits

• credits for a minimum attendance of 80%

• answering a questionnaire

• writing an A4 essay about a chosen subject

Place

Seminar room of Educational centre for Paediatric End of Life Care of Plamienok NGO, Zadunajská cesta 6 Bratislava.

Map

Words of students

Year 2015

„We invite you to a course of palliative care, which brings you an insight into your own existence, makes you think about life and death and discover something new that makes you grow.“

Mária

„Palliative care. Words that most of us associate with death. Something huge, black and unknown, filled with fear, pain and suffering. But just like day is connected with night , summer with winter, light with darkness, hope – a flicker of hope is connected with fear. A flicker that brings warmth, security and a feeling of sharing. If you would like to know where its power comes from, do not hesitate and apply.“

Veronika

„Plamienok as an organization and a place of education can be a source of valuable information for all those who are interested in care of terminally ill children and their families.“

Dominika

Summary of answers of students to the question: Why should you apply for this optional subject?

„You will widen your horizons“

„You will look at things from a different perspective.“

„You will learn more about communication.“

„You will think about topics that you normally do not think about.“

Working directly with families who are losing or have lost a child requires professional preparation. Therefore, our organization does not offer student internships that include direct contact with children and families.

For those interested in clinical experience we offer an educational course in Bereavement. After completing this course, successful participants may become clinical volunteers in our Grief Centre and accompany children after loss of a loved one.

Panel discussions

We provide free panel discussions for particular problem solving to professionals from health, social and other institutions who work with seriously and terminally ill children and their families as well as children and families after loss. Panel discussions and consultations are given by our clinical workers based on their expertise and the focus of the consultation.

Consultations can relate to the examples below

• treatment, symptom control and nursing care of terminally ill children (pain control, shortness of breath, cough, vomiting, treatment of bedsores and the like), announcing the terminal diagnosis or prognosis to the family, talking about the future and its possibilities, etc.

• accompaniment and communication with the ill child, his or her siblings, parents and social environment

• specialized social counselling for families with seriously ill or dying child

• accompanying children and families after loss of a loved one

Requirements to be fulfilled before the consultation

• applying online for consultation

• in case of a thesis, sending the draft of the thesis (content, aim, hypothesis, etc.) and questions which you would like to discuss during the consultation to info@plamienok.sk.