The following resources are taken from the Closure website (http://closure.org/) to help health care professionals face the complex issues that arise when treating patients with life-limiting illness.
 
■ The EPEC Project
The Education in Palliative Care and End of Life Project (EPEC) is an initiative that provides training in palliative and end-of-life care to health care professionals. EPEC’s development began in 1997 when medicine had generated increased capacity in palliative care and symptom management but struggled to capture the proper balance between curative approaches and the need to ameliorate suffering due to chronic or incurable disease. Linda Emanuel, MD, PhD, Charles von Gunten, MD, PhD, and Frank Ferris, MD, along with nationally respected palliative care leaders from across the country, developed the EPEC curriculum to help achieve the balance.
 
■ EPERC
The End of Life/Palliative Education Resource Center was created to be a resource to end of life/palliative health care professionals through support from the Medical College of Wisconsin. EPERC’s website is intended to support individuals involved in the design, implementation, and/or evaluation of end-of-life/palliative education for physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals. More specifically, the site has been designed for use by medical school course/clerkship directors, residency and continuing education program directors, medical faculty, and community preceptors or other professionals who are (or will be) involved in providing end-of-life instruction to health care professionals in training.
 
■ EndLink
EndLink was developed as an educational resource for people involved in end-of-life care. Rather than providing answers, EndLink attempts to offer frameworks for thinking about caring for dying individuals and their families. The content of the website was written primarily for health care professionals who work with dying patients and their families. The material presented on the site encompasses the complex, multidimensional considerations involved in caring for individuals at the end of life.
 
■ The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health
The Spirituality and Health Online Education and Resource Center (SOERCE) aims to be the premiere online location for educational and clinical resources in the fields of spirituality, religion, and health.

Source: Closure—Changing expectations for end of life, at closure.org.