Culturally Competent Palliative and Hospice Care Training for Ethnically Diverse Staff in Long-Term Care Facilities.

Between 2013 and 2030, older adults 65 years and older of racial/ethnic populations in the U.S. is projected to increase by 123% in comparison to the Whites (Non-Hispanics). To meet this demand, training of ethnically diverse health staff in long-term care facilities in palliative and hospice care is imperative. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a palliative and hospice care training of staff in two nursing homes in Hawaii - (a) to evaluate knowledge and confidence over three time periods, and (b) to compare staff and family caregiver satisfaction at end of program. The educational frameworks were based on cultural and communication theories. Fifty-two ethnically diverse staff, a majority being Asian (89%), participated in a 10-week module training and one 4 hour communication skills workshop. Staff evaluation included knowledge and confidence surveys, pre- and post-test knowledge tests, and FAMCARE-2 satisfaction instrument. There were nine Asian (89%) and Pacific Islander (11%) family caregivers who completed the FAMCARE-2 satisfaction instrument. The overall staff knowledge and confidence results were promising. The staff rated overall satisfaction of palliative care services lower than the family caregivers. Implications for future research, practice, and education with palliative and hospice care training of ethnically diverse nursing home staff is to include patient and family caregiver satisfaction of palliative and hospice care services, evaluation of effectiveness of cross-cultural communication theories in palliative and hospice care staff training, and support from administration for mentorship and development of these services in long term care facilities.

A palliative care educational intervention for frontline nursing home staff: the IMPRESS project.

The purpose of this study was to examine nursing home staff perceptions of end-of-life (EOL) care skills after an educational intervention. IMPRESS (IMproving PRofessional Education and Sustaining Support) was a quality improvement EOL care educational intervention (six lectures on core palliative care concepts) for frontline nursing home staff at five community nursing homes. Questionnaires were completed to evaluate frequency of application of palliative care skills before and after the educational series. Nursing home staff reported applying palliative care skills significantly more frequently after the intervention. A significant dose-response association was noted between number of inservice sessions attended and improvement in scores: Scores increased 0.04 points for staff who attended two of the six sessions, 0.12 for four sessions attended, and 0.46 for five to six sessions attended (p = 0.03). The results indicate that frontline nursing home staff who attend inservice sessions on core palliative care topics can significantly increase self-reported application of palliative care skills.