Palliative Care Training for Medical Speech-Language Pathologists: A Multiple-Baseline Design

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Palliative Care
• Speech-Language Pathology

Background:

• Online continuing education shows positive outcomes.
• Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) identify a need for palliative care training.
• Medical SLPs require specialized skills in palliative care settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of online palliative care training.
• To assess changes in knowledge and comfort levels among medical SLPs.
• To determine the impact of asynchronous online modules on palliative care competency.

Main Methods:

• A multiple-baseline across participants design was employed.
• Ten medical SLPs participated in online palliative care training modules.
• Knowledge and comfort were measured using electronic visual analog scales before, during, and after training.

Main Results:

• Nine out of ten participants showed significant improvements in palliative care knowledge.
• Eight out of ten participants reported significant increases in comfort levels.
• Improvements in both knowledge and comfort were maintained for three weeks post-intervention.

Conclusions:

• Online, asynchronous palliative care training is effective for medical SLPs.
• This study provides evidence for improved self-perceived knowledge and comfort in palliative care.
• The findings support the use of online continuing education to enhance palliative care skills in SLPs.