Welcome to Patch Academy

Virtual training for healthcare providers and carers on palliative care for children

Interactive

Easily distracted and quickly bored? Our interactive content is designed to keep you interested, engaged and focused on the important stuff.

CPD Accredited

Our courses are accredited with General and/or Ethics Continuing Education Units (CEUs) by CMSA.
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Instructor Support

Have a question or need help while learning? Drop us an email and our dedicated Education Manager will guide you through the tough spots.

Patch Academy is an online learning platform that offers paediatric palliative care training via interactive courses on various aspects of providing holistic care to children with palliative care needs. The paediatric palliative care courses have been developed by a group of experts in the field with members of a multi-disciplinary palliative care team in mind. However, there are no prerequisites for taking our courses. We invite anyone with an interest in caring for children with serious, chronic, life-threatening and/or complex medical conditions and their families to complete any or all of them.

Our Paediatric Palliative Care Courses

Free

Introducing Children’s Palliative Care

5 CPD pts (2 Gen & 3 Ethics)
A comprehensive overview of the key elements of children's palliative care provision.

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Free

Supporting Grieving Children

4 CPD pts (2 Gen & 2 Ethics)
A course for parents, carers or professionals caring for children grieving due to the loss of a loved one.

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ZAR500

Communication in Children’s Palliative Care

5 CPD pts (2 Gen & 3 Ethics)
Improve your communication skills with children, their parents, caregivers and colleagues.

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ZAR600

Assessing and Managing Children’s Pain

6 CPD pts (5 Gen & 1 Ethics)
Learn how to recognise, assess and successfully manage pain in babies, children and young adults.

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ZAR300

Teamwork, Managing Conflict and Self-Care

3 CPD pts (3 Gen)
Learn what's needed to work well in a team, manage conflict in difficult situations and to practice self-care.

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ZAR500

Cultural Competency and Spiritual Care

5 CPD pts (3 Gen & 2 Ethics)
Learn to assess and provide appropriate cultural and spiritual care to children with serious illnesses and their families.

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ZAR600

Psychosocial Support in Children’s Palliative Care

6 CPD pts (2 Gen & 4 Ethics)
Assessing, managing and providing psychosocial support to children and families. 

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ZAR600

Loss, Grief and Bereavement in Children’s Palliative Care

6 CPD pts (3 Gen & 3 Ethics)
Learn how to assess the needs and provide support to grieving parents, children and family members.

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ZAR600

Ethics and Decision Making in Children’s Palliative Care

6 CPD pts (6 Ethics)
Learn about children's rights, the law and how to ensure ethical decision making in children's palliative care.

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ZAR500

Holistic Assessment and Palliative Care Planning

5 CPD pts (2 Gen & 3 Ethics)
Learn how to assess holistically and plan ahead for emergency situations and for the terminal phase of a child's illness.

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ZAR600

Symptom Management in Children’s Palliative Care

6 CPD pts (5 Gen & 1 Ethic)
Learn to identify and manage common symptoms in children needing palliative care.

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ZAR600

End-of-Life Care for Children

6 CPD pts (5 Gen & 1 Ethic)
Learn how to manage end-of-life care for babies, children and young people and support their families.

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ZAR800

Perinatal and Neonatal Palliative Care

8 CPD points
Learn how to provide support to mothers, babies and family members when a baby is at high risk of dying before or shortly after birth.

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ZAR6,700

2025 Comprehensive 9-Month Course on Children’s Palliative Care

Registration for the 2025 Comprehensive 9-month Course on Children's Palliative Care has now closed. Please do not purchase this course unless you are registered for the course and have been sent the coupon code. The course will officially begin on 26 Feb 2025.

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Reviews from previous customers

Brilliant course! An absolute must for all HCW's working with children!

“Brilliant course! An absolute must for all HCW’s working with children!”
Dr Nicolette Brown
(Neonatologist) writing about the course Assessing & Managing Children’s Pain

Well done on this beautiful, interactive course!

“The Communication in Children’s Palliative Care Course was excellent. Well done on a beautiful, interactive course!”
Dr Lyndal Gibbs MD
Paediatrician

It's been very influential

“I really enjoyed the course. I thought it was insightful, compassionate and holistic. I’m so grateful for the knowledge after doing it. It’s been very influential.”
Serini Reddy
Fourth Year Medical Student

Interactive with loads of additional resources

“The course is amazing, interactive with loads of additional resources to download and explore. The activities were fun and kept me engaged while still allowing me to concentrate and continue reading.”
Prelene Kannemeyer
Speech Therapist

Very thorough

“Thanks for an amazing course. Very thorough. I really feel it has and will continue to be a benefit to me as a perinatal bereavement facilitator.”
Lizanne Whiteley
Bereavement Facilitator

Exceptionally empowering

“The course was wonderful. Exceptionally empowering.”
Melanie de Clercq
Social Worker

Doesn't feel impossible anymore

“Excellent course – The idea of advance care planning was always a scary thought and frankly just intimidating but after this course I feel like I will be able to start advance care planning for less complicated children. It will still take a while to get ‘comfortable’ with it but at least it doesn’t feel impossible anymore.”
Dr Esté Sauerman
Paediatrician

By far the easiest to follow online course

This is by far the easiest to follow online course I have taken, and it is straightforward to its aims. The information is really clear and practical. This course has kept my attention span uninterrupted for most of the time and if at times I get distracted, it’s easy to go over the lesson again because the tab on the left side is very accessible so it is a good guide to go where you want to return to if you need to. Everything you need to know is all in one screen. Seeing my progress on top motivates me to continue on doing the course. Also, the videos and links embedded here are great resources and they are easy to access. Thank you for this wonderful course! I really recommend it.
Dr Xiohara Gentica MD
Medical Doctor (Phillipines)

So much beautifully constructive advice...

“I have done plenty of counselling courses (too many) and this is the one (Loss, Grief & Bereavement in Children’s Palliative Care) that I would recommend as a self-healing tool for a grieving parent. It will give you the knowledge to offer holistic support to a grieving friend and I believe it will make you a better parent to your surviving child/children. The course will be emotionally draining at times for a grieving parent with some triggers but there is so much beautifully constructed advise that it is worth the moments of sad.”
Bonita Suckling
Jed’s mom and Founder of Rainbows and Smiles Foundation