Willemjan Slort1, Annette H Blankenstein2, Bart P M Schweitzer2, Luc Deliens3, Henriëtte E van der Horst2. 1. Department of General Practice & Elderly Care Medicine, EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: w.slort@vumc.nl. 2. Department of General Practice & Elderly Care Medicine, EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 3. Department of Public and Occupational Health, EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; End-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel & Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a new palliative care 'availability, current issues and anticipation' (ACA) training programme to improve communication skills of general practice trainees (GPTs). METHODS: In a controlled trial among third-year GPTs, we videotaped one 20-min consultation between each GPT and a simulated palliative care patient at baseline and at six months follow-up. We measured the number of issues discussed and the quality of communication skills and analysed between-group differences using linear mixed models and logistic regression. RESULTS:Fifty-four GPTs were assigned to the intervention and 64 to the control group. We found no effect of the programme on the number of issues discussed or on the quality of GPT communicative behaviour. GPTs infrequently addressed 'spiritual/existential issues' and 'unfinished business'. In a selection of the consultations, simulated patients brought up more issues than the GPTs did. CONCLUSION: The ACA training programme was not effective in the way it was carried out and evaluated in this trial. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The ACA programme should focus on the issues that scored low in this trial. Future research on GPT-patient communication in palliative care should consider using real patients in a series of consultations to evaluate effectiveness.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a new palliative care 'availability, current issues and anticipation' (ACA) training programme to improve communication skills of general practice trainees (GPTs). METHODS: In a controlled trial among third-year GPTs, we videotaped one 20-min consultation between each GPT and a simulated palliative care patient at baseline and at six months follow-up. We measured the number of issues discussed and the quality of communication skills and analysed between-group differences using linear mixed models and logistic regression. RESULTS: Fifty-four GPTs were assigned to the intervention and 64 to the control group. We found no effect of the programme on the number of issues discussed or on the quality of GPT communicative behaviour. GPTs infrequently addressed 'spiritual/existential issues' and 'unfinished business'. In a selection of the consultations, simulated patients brought up more issues than the GPTs did. CONCLUSION: The ACA training programme was not effective in the way it was carried out and evaluated in this trial. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The ACA programme should focus on the issues that scored low in this trial. Future research on GPT-patient communication in palliative care should consider using real patients in a series of consultations to evaluate effectiveness.
Authors: Jennita G Meinema; Nienke Buwalda; Faridi S van Etten-Jamaludin; Mechteld R M Visser; Nynke van Dijk Journal: Acad Med Date: 2019-02 Impact factor: 6.893
Authors: F Fischer; S Helmer; A Rogge; J I Arraras; A Buchholz; A Hannawa; M Horneber; A Kiss; M Rose; W Söllner; B Stein; J Weis; P Schofield; C M Witt Journal: BMC Cancer Date: 2019-08-14 Impact factor: 4.430