Description of a teaching method for research education for palliative care healthcare professionals.
OBJECTIVE
Despite the rapidly growing availability of palliative care services, there is still much to be done in order to better support clinicians who are starting research programs. Among the barriers identified in the literature, methodological issues and lack of research training programs are often reported. Our aim was to describe an educational research method for healthcare professionals working in palliative care and to report the result of a survey conducted among a three-year sample of students.


METHODS
The course was provided for a multidisciplinary group and was open to all healthcare professionals involved in palliative care. It took place over a single session during a full day. We used a 20-question e-survey to assess student outcomes (e.g., satisfaction, current status of their project).


RESULTS
We received answers from 83 of the 119 students (70%) who took the course. The majority were physicians (n = 62, 75%), followed by nurses (n = 17, 21%). During the class, students assessed the role of the teacher as an information provider (n = 51, 61%), role model (n = 36, 43%), and facilitator (n = 33, 40%), and considered all of these roles as suitable, with a score of 3.9-4.7 out of 5. Participants reported a high level of support from the teacher, with a mean score of 8.2 (SD, 1.7) out of 10, and good overall satisfaction with a mean score of 7.6 (1.8). Finally, 51 participants (77%) were able to start their research project after the class, 27 (41%) to complete it, and 8 (12%) to submit their research to a journal or conference.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that newer teaching methods such as roleplay, group work, and target acquisition are feasible and effective in a palliative research curriculum. Additional studies are needed to confirm the objective outputs of educational interventions, including research outputs.
Department of Palliative Care,Centre Hospitalier de Lyon-Sud,Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon,France.
Wadih
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7740-1476
W
Rhondali
The University of Texas Health Science Center,Houston, Texas.
Linh My Thi
LM
Nguyen
The University of Texas Health Science Center,Houston, Texas.
Michelle
M
Peck
Department of Palliative Care,Centre Hospitalier William-Morey,Chalon-sur-Saône,France.
Fabienne
F
Vallet
Palliative Care Unit, Notre Dame Hospital,Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM),Montreal,Canada.
Serge
S
Daneault
Department of Palliative Care,Centre Hospitalier de Lyon-Sud,Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon,France.
Marilene
M
Filbet
D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000193:education*; D003479:Curriculum; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D017145:Models, Educational; D065126:Palliative Medicine / Q000193:education*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*
Palliative care