Core Competencies in Palliative Care - a White Paper on Palliative Care Education from the European Association for Palliative Care

The purpose of this White Paper is to address the question: "What competencies for clinical practice in palliative care are important for all practitioners, irrespective of their specific discipline?". It is widely recognised that palliative care is applicable across a range of healthcare settings, from tertiary hospitals to primary care. All healthcare professionals and workers should be able to provide appropriate palliative care and thus need to be trained to provide the highest possible standards of care in order to meet the challenging needs of patients and families, irrespective of diagnosis. This EAPC White Paper presents expert opinion on global core competencies for professional practice, irrespective of discipline, and is intended as a resource for practitioners and educators alike. We propose that the ten core competencies identified in this White Paper may assist in scoping the roles and responsibilities of palliative care teams as they strive to provide care within different healthcare systems.