ABSTRACT
BackgroundThe importance for healthcare professionals (HCPs) to be trained in palliative and end-of-life care (PEoLC) was highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic (Porter, Zile, Peryer, et al., 2021. Soc Sci Med. 287:114397). With the Health and Care Bill (UK Parliament, 2022) making PEoLC a core specialty, there will be an emphasis on training HCPs to deliver generalist palliative care. The European Certificate of Essential Palliative Care (ECEPC) (Sadler, Watson & Gannon, 2021;Reed, Todd, Lawton, et al., 2018. Palliat Med. 32: 571) is a widely recognised certificate programme which has trained over 8000 HCPs since 2001.AimTo understand candidates’ motivation for undertaking the ECEPC and if the course, despite its short duration, has changed candidates’ clinical practice.MethodsCandidates are invited to participate in an online survey six months after starting the course. An initial thematic analysis of responses from the summer 2021 cohort was performed.Results17 responses were received from HCPs working in acute trusts, community settings and hospices. Candidates were unanimous in undertaking the course to improve clinical practice and build skills, knowledge and confidence in PEoLC. Nine (53%) respondents undertook the course to aid career progression. Course topics identified as most beneficial were symptom recognition and management, holistic care and disease-specific information. The true-to-life clinical scenarios in written resources and the course handbook for ongoing reference were stated as useful. Application of new knowledge in communication skills, recognition of spinal cord compression and other medical emergencies and ongoing confidence in performing holistic assessments was evident. Candidates reported supporting colleagues and sharing knowledge.DiscussionAn initial survey of ECEPC candidates demonstrates that their PEoLC knowledge and skills improved and they felt confident to share new knowledge with colleagues. Since PEoLC knowledge has been identified as a priority for HCPs (National Palliative and End of Life Care Partnership, 2021), demonstration of the benefits of this established 8-week home-study programme and its value as a stepping stone to career progression is encouraging. Results from the following cohort will be included in the upcoming complete analysis.
ABSTRACT
This study assesses the perceived impact and benefits of Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), a tele-mentoring intervention for health and social care providers, patients and the health system in Northern Ireland. Having access to a specialist, a space to share experiences, and being able to disseminate up-to-date best practice were all cited as improving provider knowledge as well as improving quality of care for patients. Healthcare providers reported being more confident in managing patients and that relationships had been improved between different levels of the health system. ECHO was described as improving access to education and training by removing geographic and time barriers. This is one of the first studies to qualitatively analyse impact across a number of different clinical and social care ECHO networks. The results strongly indicate the perceived benefit of ECHO in improving provider, patient and health system outcomes such as increased healthcare provider knowledge and confidence to manage patients at primary levels of the health system. This has implications for future service design, particularly within the context of COVID-19 in which virtual and online training is necessitated by social distancing requirements.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Humans , Northern Ireland , Community Health Services , Social Support , Health Personnel/educationABSTRACT
The findings within this short report, generated from thematic analysis of nine semistructured interviews with the Northern Ireland Project ECHO team (including authors of this reflection) and informed by reflective practice literature,7 highlight important additional lessons for other teams and organisations using the ECHO approach. Participatory approaches to setting curriculum and programme content, and linking objectives to wider service goals such as integration of care, service transformation and achieving measurable patient outcomes, were consistently present in networks that were considered most effective by the Northern Ireland Project ECHO operational team. Participants must feel safe in sharing sensitive information, discussing challenging cases, while being open to learning and critical feedback. Funding This study was undertaken as part of programmatic and process evaluation with healthcare providers funded through the Health and Social Care Board of Northern Ireland.