Training physicians to provide basic-level palliative care: an evaluation of a novel training programme

Background: Governments have an obligation to provide palliative care as a part of achieving Universal Health Coverage. This obligation to provide palliative care has grown significantly due to the immense suffering caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to patients and their carers. The successful delivery of palliative care, however, requires a healthcare workforce that is trained to provide palliative care at all levels. It is especially important to be able to train healthcare workers in basic-level palliative care to expand the health system’s capacity to provide palliative care. Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of this training programme on the participants’ interest and knowledge in palliative care, and their preparedness to deliver basic-level palliative care. Methods: We developed a novel training programme for basic palliative care using didactic and participatory learning methods, along with a mentoring system. The programme was delivered over 6 months. 38 physicians were trained. A survey to evaluate the participants’ interest and knowledge of palliative care, as well as their preparedness to provide palliative care was conducted at 3 timepoints–pre-training, post-training, and 3 months post-training. Results: Improvements in the interest (4.05 vs 4.24, p<0.05) and knowledge of palliative care (83.05 vs 93.10, p<0.001), and the preparedness to provide various aspects of palliative care were observed post-training. These improvements were sustained after 3 months post-training. Conclusions: A training programme using didactic and participatory learning methods, along with a mentor-mentee system can be effective in training physicians to provide basic-level palliative care.