Mindfulness and compassion training on daily work with patients and within the multiprofessional palliative care team: a retrospective self-assessment study

Abstract

Background: Palliative care teams work under challenging conditions in a sensitive setting with difficult tasks. The multi-professional team can play an important role. Mindfulness and compassion-based practices are used to build resilience. Our aim was to examine (1) feasibility and acceptability, (2) satisfaction and impact, and (3) opportunities and limitations of a mindfulness course.

Methods: An eight-week mindfulness and compassion course was delivered in a university-based specialized palliative care unit. A meditation teacher provided preparatory evening sessions and meditation exercises that could be integrated into daily activities. The scientific analysis of the course was based on a questionnaire developed for quality assessmentThe first two parts consisted of demographic, Likert-type, and free-text items. Part 3 consisted of learning objectives that were self-assessed after finishing the course (post-then). In the analysis, we used descriptive statistics, qualitative content analysis, and comparative self-assessment.

Results: Twenty four employees participated. 58% of participants attended 4 or more of the 7 voluntary mindfulness days. 91% expressed moderate to high satisfaction and would recommend the palliative care program to others. Three main categories emerged in the qualitative content analysis: providing feedback on the course, personal impact, and impact on professional life. The opportunity for self-care in a professional context was highlighted. Learning gains (CSA Gain) were high (38.5-49.4%) in terms of knowledge and techniques, moderate (26.2-34.5%) in terms of implementation of learned skills, and rather low (12.7-24.6%) in terms of changes to attitude.

Conclusion: Our evaluation shows that the participants of a mindfulness and compassion course considered it as a feasible and welcome tool to familiarize a multi-professional palliative care team with self-care techniques.

Trial registration: Internal Clinical Trial Register of the Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, No. 2018074763 (registered retrospectively on 30^th July 2018).

Keywords: Compassion; Mindfulness; Palliative care; Resilience; Self-care; Skills and attitude; Team building.