Children's palliative care perceptions and educational needs among healthcare professionals in humanitarian settings

Explore humanitarian healthcare professionals' (HCPs) perceptions about implementing children's palliative care and to identify their educational needs and challenges, including learning topics, training methods, and barriers to education.

Humanitarian HCPs were interviewed about perspectives on children's palliative care and preferences and needs for training. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and arranged into overarching themes. Thematic analysis was performed using qualitative description.

Ten healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, psychologists, and health-project coordinators, were interviewed. Participants identified key patient and family-related barriers to palliative care in humanitarian settings, including misconceptions that palliative care was synonymous with end-of-life care or failure. Health system barriers included time constraints, insufficient provider knowledge, and a lack of standardized palliative care protocols. Important learning topics included learning strategies to address the stigma of serious illness and palliative care, culturally sensitive communication skills, and pain and symptom management. Preferred learning modalities included interactive lectures, role-play/simulation, and team-based case discussions. Participants preferred online training for theoretical knowledge and in-person learning to improve their ability to conduct serious illness conversations and learn other key palliative care skills.

Palliative care prevents and relieves serious illness-related suffering for children with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions; however, most children in humanitarian settings are not able to access essential palliative care, leading to preventable pain and suffering. Limited palliative care knowledge and skills among HCPs in these settings are significant barriers to improving access to palliative care. Humanitarian HCPs are highly motivated to learn and improve their skills in children's palliative care, but they require adequate health system resources and training. These findings can guide educators in developing palliative care education packages for humanitarian HCPs.