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Online palliative care curriculum: contextual adaptation for Nigerian healthcare workers
  1. Ann Ogbenna1,2,
  2. Matthew Caputo3,
  3. Babatunde Akodu4,5,
  4. Denise Drane6,
  5. Debora Ohanete1,
  6. Ashti Doobay-Persaud3,7,
  7. Adeboye Ogunseitan8,
  8. Lyra Johnson3,
  9. Lifang Hou3,9,
  10. Alani Akanmu1 and
  11. Joshua M Hauser8,10
  1. 1Department of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
  2. 2Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria
  3. 3Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
  4. 4Department of Family Medicine, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria
  5. 5Department of Community Health and Primary Care, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
  6. 6Program Evaluation Core & Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
  7. 7Division of Hospital Medicine, Departments of Medicine and Medical Education, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
  8. 8Section of Palliative Care, Division of Hospital Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
  9. 9Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
  10. 10Palliative Care Service, Jesse Brown Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Ann Ogbenna, Department of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, 102215, Nigeria; aaogbenna{at}cmul.edu.ng

Abstract

Objectives This study reports on a yearlong sequence of three periodic, virtual trainings in primary palliative care for healthcare professionals across Nigeria. Our overall objective was to determine the impact of the full course on participants’ attitudes, knowledge, skills and plans to implement and deliver palliative care in their local contexts.

Methods The curriculum for this programme was codeveloped by a team of USA and Nigerian palliative care professionals and delivered via three 3-day virtual sessions. Daily surveys, knowledge tests and end-of-training surveys were administered to participants electronically. Demographics, knowledge scores, confidence levels and self-reported achievement were analysed using descriptive statistics.

Results Pretraining and post-training knowledge scores showed significant improvement with average gains of 10.3 percentage points in training 1 (p<0.001) to 11.7 percentage points in training 2 (p=0.01). More than three-quarters of participants improved their test scores. Most participants (89.4%–100%) agreed that they had achieved the daily learning objectives across all trainings. Nearly 100% of participants reported that they felt more empowered as healthcare workers, more confident in their decision-making and more comfortable communicating with patients and other healthcare workers about palliative care.

Conclusions Healthcare workers in Nigeria demonstrated increased knowledge and confidence in providing palliative care as a result of an adapted virtual training programme. Further research is needed to (1) demonstrate feasibility for online trainings in similar resource-limited settings and (2) evaluate impact on patient-centred outcomes.

  • Education and training
  • Palliative Care

Data availability statement

Data are available upon reasonable request. Data from this study may be shared upon reasonable request. Please reach out to Ann Ogbenna at aaogbenna@cmul.edu.ng.

https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2024-004944

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    Data availability statement

    Data are available upon reasonable request. Data from this study may be shared upon reasonable request. Please reach out to Ann Ogbenna at aaogbenna@cmul.edu.ng.

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors AOgbenna, BA, AOgunseitan and JMH adapted the curricula. DD designed the evaluation plan and surveys. AOgbenna, DO and DD managed the data. LJ and DO assisted with literature review and references. MC performed the statistical analysis. AOgbenna, JMH, MC and AD-P wrote the first draft of the manuscript. LH and AA provided input for the discussion. All authors reviewed the submitted manuscript. AOgbenna is the guarantor of this work.

    • Funding Research reported in this publication was generously supported by the Robert J. Havey, MD Institute for Global Health’s philanthropic funds at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.