TY - JOUR
T1 - Education can improve clinician confidence in information sharing and willingness to refer to stem cell clinical trials for cerebral palsy
AU - Paton, Madison Claire Badawy
AU - Finch-Edmondson, Megan
AU - Galea, Claire
AU - Garrity, Natasha
AU - Fahey, Michael Collingwood
AU - Novak, Iona
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© American Federation for Medical Research 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - To progress stem cell therapies for cerebral palsy, clinicians need to openly engage with patients about emerging evidence and be willing to refer to relevant clinical trials, if and when appropriate. To assess whether education can change clinicians' confidence in information sharing and willingness to refer to relevant clinical trials, an online questionnaire was distributed at a scientific conference before and after a professional workshop on cell therapies for cerebral palsy. Of the 42 participants who completed the survey, 26 self-identified as clinicians. Of these, 81% had had patients ask about stem cells, yet in the pre-workshop questionnaire indicated they were not confident answering questions about cell therapies. Clinicians were most commonly asked about stem cell treatments provided by private clinics, stem cell research and current evidence. Post-workshop, knowledge and confidence regarding stem cells, as well as likelihood to refer to clinical trials using therapies with a strong evidence base (eg, umbilical cord blood/placental cells), significantly increased (p<0.001). This study highlights that by offering resources and education, clinician confidence and willingness to refer to cell therapy trials can improve; this may help drive the stem cell research landscape and support patient decision-making.
AB - To progress stem cell therapies for cerebral palsy, clinicians need to openly engage with patients about emerging evidence and be willing to refer to relevant clinical trials, if and when appropriate. To assess whether education can change clinicians' confidence in information sharing and willingness to refer to relevant clinical trials, an online questionnaire was distributed at a scientific conference before and after a professional workshop on cell therapies for cerebral palsy. Of the 42 participants who completed the survey, 26 self-identified as clinicians. Of these, 81% had had patients ask about stem cells, yet in the pre-workshop questionnaire indicated they were not confident answering questions about cell therapies. Clinicians were most commonly asked about stem cell treatments provided by private clinics, stem cell research and current evidence. Post-workshop, knowledge and confidence regarding stem cells, as well as likelihood to refer to clinical trials using therapies with a strong evidence base (eg, umbilical cord blood/placental cells), significantly increased (p<0.001). This study highlights that by offering resources and education, clinician confidence and willingness to refer to cell therapy trials can improve; this may help drive the stem cell research landscape and support patient decision-making.
KW - brain injuries
KW - education
KW - medical
KW - stem cells
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85113178576&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/jim-2020-001735
DO - 10.1136/jim-2020-001735
M3 - Article
C2 - 34376527
AN - SCOPUS:85113178576
SN - 1081-5589
VL - 70
SP - 85
EP - 91
JO - Journal of Investigative Medicine
JF - Journal of Investigative Medicine
IS - 1
M1 - e001735
ER -