Resilience-building in palliative care professionals: scoping review

Resilience-building in palliative care professionals: scoping review BACKGROUND: Burnout, demoralisation and compassion fatigue are common among palliative care professionals. Practising palliative care necessitates a quality of resilience in order to ensure constant and optimal patient care. However, there is no universal approach to prevent burnout or raise resilience among palliative care professionals. This study aims to provide an overview of interventions and explore their effectiveness in building resilience in palliative care professionals.

The search was conducted in four databases: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Cochrane Database. Two independent investigators reviewed eligibility, with conflicts resolved by a third investigator. One reviewer performed data extraction, later reviewed by a second investigator. All eligible studies were manually re-reviewed. Quantitative and qualitative data synthesis were conducted.

The search initially revealed 11 470 potentially eligible citations. 12 studies were included in the analysis. Most studies had a small number of participants. The studies varied in sample size, interventions and assessment tools, making it challenging to identify the most effective resilience-building interventions. However, our analysis revealed commonly found elements among these interventions: five essential elements (regularity, self-care, mindfulness, reflective practice and cognitive-behavioural therapy) and three supporting elements (peer support, educational sessions and organisational support).

While the effectiveness of specific interventions remains inconclusive, this review highlights essential and supporting elements that should be considered in designing resilience-building programmes for palliative care professionals. Future research should focus on developing assessment tools specific to palliative care, conducting well-designed studies, and creating replicable, standardised interventions.