scholarly journals Assessing the quality of deliberative stakeholder consultations involving allied health professionals in pediatric palliative care and hematology/oncology in Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasiliki Rahimzadeh ◽  
Cristina Longo ◽  
Justin Gagnon ◽  
Conrad Fernandez ◽  
Gillian Bartlett

Abstract Background In this paper we assess the quality of six deliberative stakeholder consultations regarding the implementation of a precision diagnostic for life-threatening pediatric brain tumors. Decision makers who base policy recommendations on the outputs of consultative exercises can presuppose that all deliberants are well informed of the policy issue, that participation in the deliberative process was fair, and that overcoming implementation barriers will necessarily result in practice change. Additional evidence is therefore needed to substantiate the informational quality of the deliberation, measure the equality of participation and study the effects on stakeholder reasoning to appropriately guide uptake of proposed recommendation(s). Methods Using the DeVries framework for assessing the deliberative quality, we analyzed data from 44 post-consultation evaluation surveys completed by pediatric oncology and palliative care teams at two tertiary pediatric healthcare centers in Canada. We also conducted turn-taking and word-contribution analyses from the text transcriptions of each deliberation to assess equality of participation using descriptive statistics. Results Deliberants agreed the quality of the deliberative process was fair (median ratings ranging from 9–10 out of 10) and the opportunities to receive expert information and discuss with others about the implementation of a new LDT were helpful (9.5 out of 10). While the session improved understanding of the implementation barriers and opportunities, it had marginal effects on deliberants’ reasoning about whether LDTs would change their own clinical practice (3–10 out of 10). Participation was proportionate in at least four of the six deliberations, where no deliberant took more than 20% of total turns and contributed equal to, or less than 20% of total words. Conclusion The quality assessment we performed demonstrates high informational value and perceived fairness of two deliberative stakeholder consultations involving pediatric palliative care and oncology teams in Canada. Quality assessments can reveal how the process of deliberation unfolds, whether deliberative outputs are the result of equitable participation among deliberants and what, if any, stakeholder voices may be missing. Such assessments should be routinely reported as a condition of methodological rigor and trustworthiness of deliberative stakeholder engagement research.

Author(s):  
Theresa Sophie Busse ◽  
Sven Kernebeck ◽  
Larissa Alice Dreier ◽  
Dorothee Meyer ◽  
Daniel Zenz ◽  
...  

Pediatric palliative care (PPC) patients require years of care across professions and sectors. Sharing treatment-related information and communicating among different PPC professionals is critical to ensure good quality of care. In Germany, this communication is mostly paper-based and prone to errors. Therefore, an electronic cross-facility health record (ECHR) was participatorily designed with users, wherein information can be shared and PPC professionals can communicate with each other. As this form of electronic health record differs from existing models in Germany, there is a need for successful implementation to ensure a positive impact. Therefore, the facilitators and barriers to the implementation of ECHR in PPC were examined. Using the consolidated framework for implementation research (CFIR), transcripts of 32 interviews, 3 focus groups, and 20 think-aloud studies with PPC professionals were analyzed. CFIR indicated that the ECHR-design was viewed positively by users and can be a facilitator for implementation. Barriers exist, mainly due to the fact that the implementation is not planned, the use of the ECHR involves effort, costs are not covered, and all users must be motivated to use the ECHR for functionality. CFIR helps uncover the crux of the issues that need to be considered when planning ECHR implementation to improve care in PPC.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasiliki Rahimzadeh ◽  
Cristina Longo ◽  
Justin Gagnon ◽  
Conrad Fernandez ◽  
Gillian Bartlett

Abstract Objective—This paper presents findings from a quality assessment of deliberative stakeholder consultations with healthcare professionals in Canada on the implementation of a precision diagnostic for life-threatening pediatric brain tumors. Background—Advanced understanding of the basic biology and pharmacogenomics of pediatric brain tumors portend a clinical future in which oncologists base their clinical decisions in large part on results from laboratory derived tests (LDT) using next generation sequencing. Less is known, however, about how interprofessional healthcare teams perceive the opportunities and challenges of adopting LDTs in clinical practice, or how to best communicate LDT results to pediatric patients and their families. Deliberative stakeholder consultations present a promising alternative to traditional deliberative democratic methods. They allow researchers to unveil normative ethical and social values underpinning a forthcoming policy or new standard of care from the perspectives of key stakeholder groups, as well as make practical recommendations relevant for implementation.Methods—Using the DeVries framework for assessing the quality of deliberative process and information, we analyzed data from 44 post-consultation evaluation surveys from pediatric oncology and palliative care teams at two tertiary pediatric healthcare centers in Canada. Medians/means based on a 10-point Likert scale are reported. We also conducted turn-taking analysis and word-contribution analysis from the text transcriptions of each deliberation to assess equality of participation.Results—Deliberants agreed the quality of the deliberative process was fair (averages ranging from 9-10/10) and the opportunities to both receive expert information and discuss with others about the implementation of a new LDT were helpful (9.5/10). While the session improved understanding of the implementation barriers and opportunities, the session had marginal effects on deliberants’ perceived impact on their own clinical practice where median ratings ranged from 3-10/10. Participation was proportionate in at least four of the six deliberations, where no deliberant took more than 20% of total turns and contributed equal to, or less than 20% of total words.Conclusion—The quality assessments performed lend evidence to the informational value and overall fairness of the deliberative process achieved in this study to identify implementation and communication needs of healthcare professionals at the point when LDTs become standard for diagnosing life-threatening brain tumors in children.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
In Gyu Song ◽  
Seung Yeon Kwon ◽  
Yoon Jung Chang ◽  
Min Sun Kim ◽  
Sung Hoon Jeong ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Although the importance of palliative care in pediatric patients has been emphasized, many health care providers have difficulty determining when patients should be referred to the palliative care team. The Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale (PaPaS) was developed as a tool for screening pediatric patients for palliative care needs. The study aimed to evaluate the PaPaS as a reliable tool for primary care clinicians unfamiliar with palliative care. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of patients referred to the pediatric palliative care teams in two tertiary hospitals in the Republic of Korea between July 2018 and October 2019. Results The primary clinical and pediatric palliative care teams assessed the PaPaS scores of 109 patients, and both teams reported a good agreement for the sum of the PaPaS score. Furthermore, the PaPaS scores correlated with those obtained using the Lansky performance scale. Although the mean PaPaS score was higher in the pediatric palliative care team, the scores were higher than the cut-off score for referral in both groups. Conclusion The PaPaS can be a useful tool for primary care clinicians to assess the palliative care needs of patients and their families.


2020 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2020-002293
Author(s):  
Thomas Chalopin ◽  
Nicolas Vallet ◽  
Lotfi Benboubker ◽  
Marlène Ochmann ◽  
Emmanuel Gyan ◽  
...  

ObjectivesPatients with haematological malignancies (HM) receive more aggressive treatments near the end-of-life (EOL) than patients with solid tumours. Palliative care (PC) needs are less widely acknowledged in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) than in other HM. The main objective of our study was to describe EOL care and PC referral in a population of older patients with MM.MethodsWe retrospectively included deceased inpatients and outpatients with an MM previously diagnosed at the age of 70 and over in two tertiary centres in France. We reported EOL characteristics regarding treatments considered to be aggressive—antimyeloma therapies, hospitalisations, blood product transfusions, intensive care units (ICUs) or emergency admissions—and PC referral.ResultsWe included 119 patients. In their last month of life, 75 (63%) were hospitalised for fever, pain, asthenia, anaemia or bleeding, 49 (41%) were admitted in the emergency department and 12 (10%) in ICU, 76 (64%) still received antimyeloma therapy and 45 (38%) had at least two transfusions. Only 24 (20%) received PC intervention for pain, global care, family support, anxiety, social care or confusion. Median follow-up until death was 20 days.ConclusionsOur study found a high rate of hospitalisations and antimyeloma therapies in the last month of life. The PC referral rate was low, often once specific treatments were stopped. Our results suggest the need for more effective collaboration between PC teams and haematologists in order to respond to the specific needs of these patients and to improve their quality of care at EOL.


2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1033-1043 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald H. Dallas ◽  
Megan L. Wilkins ◽  
Jichuan Wang ◽  
Ana Garcia ◽  
Maureen E. Lyon

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Temkin-Greener Helena Temkin-Greener ◽  
Dana Mukamel ◽  
Susan Ladwig ◽  
Thomas , Caprio ◽  
Sally Norton ◽  
...  

Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 1043
Author(s):  
Silvia Ortiz-Campoy ◽  
Cristina Lirio-Romero ◽  
Helena Romay-Barrero ◽  
David Martín-Caro Álvarez ◽  
Purificación López-Muñoz ◽  
...  

Pediatric palliative care (PPC) is a set of actions aimed at children who suffer from a severe or life-threatening disease to alleviate the symptoms of the disease and improve the quality of life of both the child and his/her family. One of the tools used to control symptoms is physiotherapy; however, its application in the child population has not been thoroughly studied. The main objective of this study was to gather, analyze, and critically evaluate the available scientific evidence on physiotherapy in children who require palliative care through a systematic review of the studies published in the last 10 years in the following databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, PEDro, CINAHL, and Scopus. Of a total of 622 studies, the inclusion criteria were only met by seven articles, which were focused on the relationship between physiotherapy and PPC. This study analyzed: (1) the main pathologies treated, with a predominance of cerebral palsy and cancer; (2) the interventions applied, such as respiratory physiotherapy, neurological physiotherapy, therapeutic massage, and virtual reality; (3) the effects achieved in the child and his/her family, highlighting the control of symptoms and the improvement of the quality of life; and (4) the knowledge of the physiotherapists on PPC, observing that most of the professionals had not received training in this scope. The findings of this review indicate a lack of an adequate evidence foundation for physiotherapy in PPC.


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