Embedding Palliative Care Clinicians in ALS Teams Improves ALS Clinicians' Confidence in Their Patient Management and...

Specialty palliative care (SPC) can improve symptoms and well-being for people living with ALS. Few studies capture how ALS clinicians utilize or are impacted by SPC. We sought to understand how the presence of SPC clinicians on ALS teams impacts ALS clinicians' referrals to and satisfaction with SPC.

We conducted a survey of interdisciplinary ALS clinicians to understand their confidence in their team's care, SPC referral patterns, and satisfaction with SPC. We compared responses from ALS clinicians with and without SPC in their team.

141 ALS clinicians completed the survey, having primarily neurology, nursing, and therapy backgrounds. ALS clinicians who had SPC embedded in their team reported more confidence in their team's ability to address pain (63.3% v 37.4%, p < 0.001), dyspnea (88.8% v 70.8%, p = 0.05), and end-of-life needs (71.4% v 52.1%, p = 0.005). They reported fewer SPC referral barriers and referred to SPC for different reasons. ALS clinicians with SPC on their team were more satisfied with SPC's ability to help with motor symptoms (92.7% v 71.4%, p = 0.02), dyspnea (98.3% v 86.7%, p = 0.04), and care coordination (90.0% v 73.5%, p = 0.04).

The presence of SPC embedded within multidisciplinary ALS teams is associated with ALS clinicians feeling more confident in their team's ability to address certain care needs, more satisfied with the care provided by SPC, and experiencing fewer barriers to involving SPC. Additional research should explore how embedding SPC on ALS teams impacts patient outcomes.