Developing Successful Palliative Care Teams in Rural Communities: A Facilitated Process

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Rural Health
• Palliative Care

Background:

• Developing palliative care (PC) programs in rural areas faces significant hurdles, including limited training, staff, resources, and reimbursement.
• Established frameworks are crucial for rural communities to build effective PC programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To utilize a facilitated, community-centric planning process to guide rural teams in developing palliative care (PC) programs.
• To identify and address gaps in clinical PC skills and barriers to optimizing PC services in rural settings.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, observational quality improvement initiative over 18-24 months.
• Engaged 17 rural community teams in a facilitated planning process and initial assessments.
• Eight teams completed follow-up assessments after implementing community-specific action plans.

Main Results:

• Initial assessments revealed gaps in PC skills (bereavement, continuity, pain management, communication) and barriers (awareness, reimbursement, resources, coordination).
• All teams developed action plans; eight showed improved PC knowledge post-intervention.
• Qualitative feedback indicated the process enhanced capacity, skills, and workflows for PC delivery.

Conclusions:

• A unique, community-driven development process can aid rural areas in organizing, developing, and sustaining palliative care (PC) programs.
• This approach helps overcome common barriers to providing essential PC services in rural communities.