Physicians' Confidence in Primary Palliative Care and Preferred Methods of Responding: A Sequential Mixed-Methods...

Area of Science:

• Palliative Care
• Medical Education
• Healthcare Systems

Background:

• Palliative care (PC) demand outstrips specialist supply, necessitating collaborative care models.
• Primary care physicians (PCPs), emergency physicians, and hospitalists require support in PC.
• Understanding physician attitudes and confidence is crucial for improving PC delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• Assess needs and attitudes of non-PC physicians regarding PC.
• Evaluate physician confidence in managing common PC scenarios.
• Determine preferences for collaboration with specialty PC.

Main Methods:

• Sequential mixed-methods design: qualitative interviews informed a quantitative survey.
• Surveys administered to primary care, emergency, and hospital physicians across diverse settings.
• Data collected on demographics, confidence, support preferences, and referral likelihood.

Main Results:

• Low physician confidence reported in managing pain scenarios (5.57/10).
• Higher confidence noted for goals-of-care conversations (7.80/10).
• Previous PC training correlated with higher confidence in symptom and goals-of-care management.

Conclusions:

• Physician confidence in primary PC skills requires enhancement.
• Innovative collaborative models are needed for specialty PC support.
• Addressing PC needs requires interdisciplinary approaches across healthcare settings.