Background A multi-professional, post-graduate, one-week palliative care training program was piloted in November 2019 at the University of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. A formal evaluation of this program was performed. Methods This is a comparative, retrospective outcome-based evaluation of an educational intervention. Participants completed evaluation forms at the end of the course (post-intervention = T1), covering demographics, comparative retrospective self-assessment (40 items, 6-point Likert scale), organizational aspects, and general feedback (free text). At T1, the responses represent actual self-assessment, pre-interventional (T0) scores were generated by retrospective self-assessment. The Retrospective Performance Gain (RPG) was calculated on group level for the comparative self-assessment, demographic and organizational variables were analyzed by descriptive statistics, and free text answers were processed by qualitative methodology (content analysis). Results Fifty-three of 56 attendants from all professions relevant to palliative care completed the evaluation forms (response 94,6%), with mean age 39y (22–64) and mean working experience 13,6y (1–44). Overall ratings of the program were very positive. Comparative retrospective self-assessment demonstrated a marked RPG from T0 to T1 on all items. Free text comments emphasized the need for regular nation-wide educational programs and for further education in bereavement care; inter-professional practice; communication; palliative care philosophy; professional self-care; specific nursing skills; dementia care; and advocacy, while the general contribution of the program to palliative care development in Ukraine was acknowledged. Conclusions Systematic evaluation of a post-graduate international training program in palliative care may provide a mutual learning experience and map country-specific barriers and facilitators that have to be addressed when setting up palliative care services.

Introduction. The WHO Europe Office, together with the European Association for Palliative Care, is supporting the development of an interdisciplinary core curriculum for health care professionals in the European Region, which is to be given to the countries as a recommendation. Material and methods. Between April and September 2018, a research journey to Central Asia, Eastern and SouthEastern Europe took place. It covered two main tasks: collecting quantitative data using a survey and collecting qualitative data by conducting on-site interviews. This article contains the quantitative part. Experts in palliative care education in 23 countries were invited to fill out a questionnaire. The data received from 23 questions were statistically evaluated by IBM SPSS Statistics 25. Results. 27 surveys received from 21 countries were evaluated. In one-third of the surveyed countries, there is still no postgraduate training in palliative care. The main barriers to the development of educational work are limited political interest, followed by limited educational structures, missing curricula, lack of trainers and the limited healthcare system. For 92.6% of all respondents, a WHO-recommended interdisciplinary postgraduate core curriculum would help promote palliative care in their country. Conclusion. There is a high need for postgraduate education in general and the intended core curriculum in particular. The results of the survey, along with those from the interviews in a later second part of the publication, are essential for the development of a core curriculum.

Objectives In 2018, a study was conducted in the Eastern and South-eastern Europe and Central Asia. National leaders of palliative care were asked to describe developments in postgraduate education in their region. They were asked whether the introduction of a European curriculum would be useful in their country. The aim was to explore the structures of postgraduate education at country level in order to define the barriers and opportunities. Methods This is an ethnographic study based on semi-structured field interviews. A thematic analysis was chosen for data extraction and a narrative synthesis for the systematic presentation and critical discussion of the results. Results Thirty-two interviews were recorded in 23 countries. The analysis revealed 4 main themes: (1) general barriers to access, (2) necessary to improve palliative care education, (3) palliative care core curriculum – the theoretical framework, and (4) challenges in implementation. These main themes were complemented by 19 subthemes. Significance of results Palliative care is understood as a universal idea, which in practice means accepting social pluralism and learning to respect unique individual needs. This makes teaching palliative care a very special task because there are no golden standards for dealing with each individual as they are. In theory, a European curriculum recommendation is useful to convince governments and other key stakeholders of the importance of postgraduate education. In practice, such a curriculum needs to be adapted to the constraints of health services and human resources. Validated quality assessment criteria for palliative care education are crucial to advance postgraduate education.

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