Acceptability and feasibility of an interprofessional end-of-life/palliative care educational intervention in the intensive care unit: A mixed-methods study

Objectives: This study aimed to describe a seven hour End-of-Life/Palliative Care educational intervention including online content related to symptom management, communication and decision-making capacity and an in-person group integration activity, from the perspective of the interprofessional team in terms of its acceptability and feasibility. Research design: A mixed-methods study design was used. Setting and sample: The study was conducted in a medical-surgical Intensive Care Unit in Montreal, Canada. The sample consisted of 27 clinicians of the Intensive Care Unit interprofessional team who completed the End-of-Life/Palliative Care educational intervention, and participated in focus groups and completed a self-administered questionnaire. Main outcome measures: The main outcomes were the acceptability and feasibility of the educational intervention. Findings: The intervention was perceived to be appropriate and suitable in providing clinicians with knowledge and skills in symptom management and communication through self-reflection and self-evaluation, provision of assessment tools and promotion of interprofessional teamwork. The online format was more feasible, but the in-person group activity was key for the integration of knowledge and the promotion of interprofessional discussions. Conclusion: Findings suggest that an interprofessional educational intervention integrating on-line content with in-person training has the potential to support clinicians in providing quality End-of-Life/ Palliative Care in the Intensive Care Unit. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.