Eliciting the educational needs and priorities of home care workers on end-of-life care for patients with heart failure using nominal group technique. (May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Baik, Dawon; Leung, Peggy B; Sterling, Madeline R; Russell, David; Jordan, Lizeyka; Silva, Ariel F; Masterson Creber, Ruth M
• Is Part Of: Palliative medicine. Volume 35:Number 5(2021)
• Page Start: 977
• Page End: 982
• Publication Date: 2021-05
• Subjects: Heart failure -- home care services -- hospice -- end of life -- nominal group technique; Pain -- Treatment -- Periodicals; Cancer -- Palliative treatment -- Periodicals; Palliative Care -- Periodicals; Palliatieve behandeling; 616.029
• DOI: 10.1177/0269216321999963
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-2163

Abstract

Background: Home care workers, as paid caregivers, assist with many aspects of home-based heart failure care. However, most home care workers do not receive systematic training on end-of-life care for heart failure patients. Aim: To elicit the educational needs and priorities of home care workers caring for community- dwelling adults with heart failure at the end-of-life. Design: Nominal group technique involving a semi-quantitative structured group process and point rating system was used to designate the importance of priorities elicited from home care workers. Individual responses to the question, " If you have ever cared for a heart failure patient who was dying (or receiving end-of-life care on hospice), what are some of the challenges you faced?", were aggregated into categories using directed content analysis methods. Setting/Participants: Forty-one home care workers were recruited from a non-profit training and education organization in New York City. Results: Individual responses to the question were aggregated into five categories: (1) how to cope and grieve; (2) assisting patients with behavior changes, (3) supporting patients to improve their quality of life, (4) assisting patients with physical symptom management, and (5) symptom recognition and assessment. Conclusions: Our findings confirm the need for the formal development and evaluation of an educational program for home care workers to improve the care of heart failure patients at the end-of-life. There is also a need for research on integrating home care workers into the interprofessional healthcare team to support optimal health outcomes for patients with heart failure.