Development and initial validation of the grief training needs assessment scale (GTNAS)

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Healthcare Education
• Grief Counseling

Background:

• Healthcare professionals require specialized training to effectively support patients experiencing grief.
• Existing assessment tools may not adequately capture the nuanced training needs in grief care.
• The development of a validated instrument is crucial for identifying specific training gaps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop the Grief Training Needs Assessment Scale (GTNAS) for healthcare professionals.
• To provide initial validation evidence for the GTNAS.
• To identify specific training needs in grief care among healthcare professionals.

Main Methods:

• Item generation via deductive approach and expert Delphi procedure for content validity.
• Cognitive interviews for item refinement.
• Online administration of the final scale to 221 healthcare professionals, followed by exploratory factor analysis.

Main Results:

• A three-factor structure emerged: Pre- and Post-death Grief Competencies and Motivation for Grief Training.
• The GTNAS showed excellent internal consistency (α = .952) and satisfactory convergent and construct validity.
• Discriminant validity was supported for motivation, but competency factors showed overlap.

Conclusions:

• The GTNAS is a promising instrument for assessing grief-related training needs in healthcare professionals.
• Preliminary findings support the scale's utility, but further validation with diverse samples is recommended.
• The scale can inform the development of targeted grief care training programs.