Development of a Palliative Care Education Program in Rural Long-Term Care Facilities

Abstract

In North America, people 85 years and older are the fastest growing age cohort and long-term care homes are increasingly becoming the place of end-of-life care. This is especially true in rural communities where services are lacking. Staff in long-term care homes lack education about palliative care, but in rural areas, accessing education and the lack of relevant curricula are barriers. The focus of this paper is to describe an approach to developing and delivering a research-based palliative care education curriculum in rural long-term care homes. The approach included conducting a detailed assessment of staffs’ educational needs and preferred educational formats; developing a 15-hour interprofessional curriculum tailored to the identified needs; and delivering the curriculum on site in rural long-term care homes. Staff confidence and participation in delivering palliative care increased. Based on work in northwestern Ontario, Canada, this approach can serve as a model for palliative care education in other rural areas.

Outcomes of collaborative and interdisciplinary palliative education for health care assistants: A qualitative metasummary

“…The gold standard of palliative care occurs when interdisciplinary team members communicate effectively and collaborate on care plans (Finnerty & Gregory, ; Kortes‐Miller et al, ; Phillips, Davidson, Jackson, & Kristjanson, ). Therefore, it is necessary for all health care providers (including health care assistants) to become more effective at interpersonal communication and collaborative skills.…”

“…Managers must ensure the benefits of a collaborative or interdisciplinary palliative educational intervention are transferable to the care settings. Some participants attribute the success of their palliative educational intervention to supportive administrative personnel who provide opportunities for them to enact new knowledge and skills (Kortes‐Miller et al, ; Lange et al, ). When health care assistants are unable to use newly acquired knowledge and skills, they are fully aware of quality deficiencies and report feeling frustrated and demoralized (Beck et al, ).…”

“…Collaborative or interdisciplinary care has been determined to be the gold standard for delivery of palliative care (Finnerty & Gregory, ; Kortes‐Miller et al, ; Phillips et al, ). This qualitative metasummary has revealed numerous perceived benefits of collaborative or interdisciplinary educational interventions for health care assistants.…”

“…Many have described a desire for more emotional support from management and administrators (Curry et al, 2009;Kortes-Miller, Habjan, Kelley, & Fortier, 2007;Potter et al, 2015). Second, many health care assistants have expressed a desire to work in environments that support the work of caring for seniors living with life-limiting illness rather than in environments where the care is jeopardized by heavy workloads combined with time constraints (Dobie, Plumb, & Shepherd, 2016;Hockley, 2014;Long, 2013;Potter et al, 2015).…”

“…When multiple nursing home residents die in a short period of time, some health care assistants have suggested that nursing home managers and administrators fail to understand their needs and support them emotionally (McDonnell et al, ; Potter et al, ). Many have described a desire for more emotional support from management and administrators (Curry et al, ; Kortes‐Miller, Habjan, Kelley, & Fortier, ; McDonnell et al, ; Potter et al, ). Second, many health care assistants have expressed a desire to work in environments that support the work of caring for seniors living with life‐limiting illness rather than in environments where the care is jeopardized by heavy workloads combined with time constraints (Dobie, Plumb, & Shepherd, ; Hockley, ; Long, ; McDonnell et al, ; Potter et al, ).…”