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The Impact of Provider Education on Pediatric Palliative Care Referral
Insights
Improving pediatric palliative care referrals is crucial. Provider education on guidelines significantly increased referrals and comfort levels, ensuring earlier access to essential supportive services for children with life-limiting illnesses.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Palliative Care
- Healthcare Quality Improvement
- Medical Education
Background:
- Palliative care significantly benefits children with life-limiting illnesses.
- Current services are often limited to end-of-life care.
- Early integration of palliative care improves quality of life.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the impact of established guidelines and provider education on palliative care referrals in pediatric settings.
- To demonstrate improved access to palliative care services.
Main Methods:
- Educational sessions on national referral recommendations were provided to healthcare providers.
- Intervention targeted neonatal intensive care unit, pediatric intensive care unit, and oncology units.
- Referral rates and provider comfort levels were measured before and after the intervention.
Main Results:
- A clinically significant increase in hospital-wide palliative care referral rates was observed.
- A statistically significant increase in provider comfort with referral guidelines was noted (p < .1).
Conclusions:
- Provider education and clear guidelines enhance palliative care referrals.
- Increased provider knowledge ensures earlier access to palliative care.
- Optimizing palliative care integration improves patient quality of life.
Introduction:
Palliative care can significantly benefit children managing a life-limiting illness; unfortunately, services are still generally reserved for end of life. The aim of this project was to demonstrate how established guidelines and provider education could impact referrals.
Methods:
Educational sessions outlining national referral recommendations were offered to providers in the neonatal intensive care unit, pediatric intensive care unit, and Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at a tertiary care facility. Presurveys and postsurveys were administered at the time of the intervention, and referral rates for the organization were collected for 2 months before and 2 months after the intervention.
Results:
While there was a clinically significant increase in hospital-wide referral rates, most important was the statistically significant (p < .1) increase in provider comfortability with established guidelines.
Discussion:
Palliative care is essential for optimizing quality of life. Provider knowledge of referral criteria ensures that patients receive this service early in their disease trajectory and can benefit from its inclusion within their care team.
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