Impact of Pediatric Palliative Care Education on Healthcare Staff at a Tertiary Care Pediatric Hospital
Michelle Muñoz Pedraza* and Jéssica Haydeé Guadarrama Orozco
ABSTRACT
Importance: There is evidence that healthcare workers’ perceptions contribute to suboptimal palliative care. However, there is limited evidence that educational interventions can positively influence these perceptions and overall knowledge of Pediatric Palliative Care (PPC).
Objective: To increase knowledge of and improve perceptions regarding PPC among healthcare personnel at a tertiary-care pediatric hospital. The study hypotheses were aligned with these objectives.
Study Design: Qualitative/mixed-methods. A monthly educational intervention was delivered over 8 months.
Setting: A tertiary-care pediatric hospital in Mexico.
Participants: Healthcare personnel who attended at least one monthly PPC training session from March 2024 to October 2024, for a total of 8 sessions Convenience sampling was used. Pre- and post-training questionnaires were administered; completed questionnaires were included and incomplete questionnaires were excluded. A subset of attendees at each session was randomly selected for a structured interview.
Main Measures: Initial hypotheses were maintained throughout the study. Pre- and post-training questionnaire results were analyzed with the Mann–Whitney U test. Qualitative analysis of interviews used narrative methods and ATLAS.ti with code-based analysis.
Results: A total of 196 questionnaires were obtained; 8 were excluded due to incomplete data. Narratives were collected from 13 interviewees. The Mann– Whitney U test showed a statistically significant increase in knowledge when comparing pre- vs post-training scores for the second session (bioethical dilemmas in PPC; p=0.046), the third session (advance directives; p=0.033), and the sixth session (euthanasia vs limitation/adequacy of therapeutic effort; p=0.031).
Conclusions: Knowledge increased in three of the eight sessions delivered. Healthcare personnel’s perceptions improved. Reassessment of knowledge over time is warranted.
Key Points
Question: What is the impact of PPC education on healthcare personnel’s level of knowledge in a tertiary-care pediatric hospital?
Findings: In this qualitative/mixed-methods study with an 8-month monthly educational intervention and 196 questionnaires, there was a statistically significant increase in knowledge in the second (p=0.046; bioethical dilemmas in PPC), third (p=0.033; advance directives), and sixth sessions (p=0.031; euthanasia vs adequacy of therapeutic effort).
Meaning: Educational interventions can improve healthcare workers’ knowledge of PPC.
