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Primary care physicians’ educational needs and learning preferences in end of life care: A focus group study in the UK

BACKGROUND: Primary care physicians (General Practitioners (GPs)) play a pivotal role in providing end of life care (EoLC). However, many lack confidence in this area, and the quality of EoLC by GPs can be problematic. Evidence regarding educational needs, learning preferences and the acceptability...

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Autores principales: Selman, Lucy Ellen, Brighton, Lisa Jane, Robinson, Vicky, George, Rob, Khan, Shaheen A., Burman, Rachel, Koffman, Jonathan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5343378/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28274216
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12904-017-0191-2
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author Selman, Lucy Ellen
Brighton, Lisa Jane
Robinson, Vicky
George, Rob
Khan, Shaheen A.
Burman, Rachel
Koffman, Jonathan
author_facet Selman, Lucy Ellen
Brighton, Lisa Jane
Robinson, Vicky
George, Rob
Khan, Shaheen A.
Burman, Rachel
Koffman, Jonathan
author_sort Selman, Lucy Ellen
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Primary care physicians (General Practitioners (GPs)) play a pivotal role in providing end of life care (EoLC). However, many lack confidence in this area, and the quality of EoLC by GPs can be problematic. Evidence regarding educational needs, learning preferences and the acceptability of evaluation methods is needed to inform the development and testing of EoLC education. This study therefore aimed to explore GPs’ EoLC educational needs and preferences for learning and evaluation. METHODS: A qualitative focus group study was conducted with qualified GPs and GP trainees in the UK. Audio recordings were transcribed and analysed thematically. Expert review of the coding frame and dual coding of transcripts maximised rigour. RESULTS: Twenty-eight GPs (10 fully qualified, 18 trainees) participated in five focus groups. Four major themes emerged: (1) why education is needed, (2) perceived educational needs, (3) learning preferences, and (4) evaluation preferences. EoLC was perceived as emotionally and clinically challenging. Educational needs included: identifying patients for palliative care; responsibilities and teamwork; out-of-hours care; having difficult conversations; symptom management; non-malignant conditions; and paediatric palliative care. Participants preferred learning through experience, working alongside specialist palliative care staff, and discussion of real cases, to didactic methods and e-learning. 360° appraisals and behavioural assessment using videoing or simulated interactions were considered problematic. Self-assessment questionnaires and patient and family outcome measures were acceptable, if used and interpreted correctly. CONCLUSIONS: GPs require education and support in EoLC, particularly the management of complex clinical care and counselling. GPs value mentoring, peer-support, and experiential learning alongside EoLC specialists over formal training.
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spelling pubmed-53433782017-03-10 Primary care physicians’ educational needs and learning preferences in end of life care: A focus group study in the UK Selman, Lucy Ellen Brighton, Lisa Jane Robinson, Vicky George, Rob Khan, Shaheen A. Burman, Rachel Koffman, Jonathan BMC Palliat Care Research Article BACKGROUND: Primary care physicians (General Practitioners (GPs)) play a pivotal role in providing end of life care (EoLC). However, many lack confidence in this area, and the quality of EoLC by GPs can be problematic. Evidence regarding educational needs, learning preferences and the acceptability of evaluation methods is needed to inform the development and testing of EoLC education. This study therefore aimed to explore GPs’ EoLC educational needs and preferences for learning and evaluation. METHODS: A qualitative focus group study was conducted with qualified GPs and GP trainees in the UK. Audio recordings were transcribed and analysed thematically. Expert review of the coding frame and dual coding of transcripts maximised rigour. RESULTS: Twenty-eight GPs (10 fully qualified, 18 trainees) participated in five focus groups. Four major themes emerged: (1) why education is needed, (2) perceived educational needs, (3) learning preferences, and (4) evaluation preferences. EoLC was perceived as emotionally and clinically challenging. Educational needs included: identifying patients for palliative care; responsibilities and teamwork; out-of-hours care; having difficult conversations; symptom management; non-malignant conditions; and paediatric palliative care. Participants preferred learning through experience, working alongside specialist palliative care staff, and discussion of real cases, to didactic methods and e-learning. 360° appraisals and behavioural assessment using videoing or simulated interactions were considered problematic. Self-assessment questionnaires and patient and family outcome measures were acceptable, if used and interpreted correctly. CONCLUSIONS: GPs require education and support in EoLC, particularly the management of complex clinical care and counselling. GPs value mentoring, peer-support, and experiential learning alongside EoLC specialists over formal training. BioMed Central 2017-03-09 /pmc/articles/PMC5343378/ /pubmed/28274216 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12904-017-0191-2 Text en © The Author(s). 2017 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research Article
Selman, Lucy Ellen
Brighton, Lisa Jane
Robinson, Vicky
George, Rob
Khan, Shaheen A.
Burman, Rachel
Koffman, Jonathan
Primary care physicians’ educational needs and learning preferences in end of life care: A focus group study in the UK
title Primary care physicians’ educational needs and learning preferences in end of life care: A focus group study in the UK
title_full Primary care physicians’ educational needs and learning preferences in end of life care: A focus group study in the UK
title_fullStr Primary care physicians’ educational needs and learning preferences in end of life care: A focus group study in the UK
title_full_unstemmed Primary care physicians’ educational needs and learning preferences in end of life care: A focus group study in the UK
title_short Primary care physicians’ educational needs and learning preferences in end of life care: A focus group study in the UK
title_sort primary care physicians’ educational needs and learning preferences in end of life care: a focus group study in the uk
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5343378/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28274216
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12904-017-0191-2
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