An Educational Intervention to Enhance Palliative Care Training at HBCUs

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Palliative Care
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Primary palliative care training is vital for clinicians at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
• Black patients face reduced access to specialty palliative care.
• Patient preference for race-concordant care underscores the need for culturally competent palliative care providers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a palliative care educational intervention.
• To assess changes in resident attitudes and perceived competency in palliative care domains.
• To address the need for improved palliative care education within HBCU medical programs.

Main Methods:

• A palliative care educational intervention was implemented in family and internal medicine residency programs at two HBCUs.
• Pre- and post-intervention surveys assessed resident attitudes and perceived competency.
• Chi-squared analysis was used to analyze survey results.

Main Results:

• Post-intervention, 78% of residents reported high overall preparedness in palliative care, an increase from 50% pre-intervention.
• A higher percentage of residents felt well-prepared to deliver bad news (41% vs. 23%) and conduct family meetings (44% vs. 27%) post-intervention.
• Ratings of overall palliative care education quality significantly improved, with 30% rating it as very good or excellent post-intervention compared to 14% pre-intervention.

Conclusions:

• Palliative care education at HBCUs significantly increased residents' confidence in their preparedness.
• Communication skills, including delivering bad news and conducting family meetings, showed notable improvement.
• The intervention highlights the effectiveness of targeted education in enhancing palliative care delivery within diverse medical settings.