Background: Lack of pediatric palliative care (PPC) training impedes successful integration of PPC principles into pediatric oncology.
Objectives: We examined the impact of an enhanced implementation of the Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care for Pediatrics (EPEC®-Pediatrics) curriculum on the following: (1) knowledge dissemination; (2) health professionals' knowledge; (3) practice change; and (4) quality of PPC.
Design: An integrated knowledge translation approach was used with pre-/posttest evaluation of care quality. Setting/Subjects/Measurements: Regional Teams of 3-6 health professionals based at 15 pediatric oncology programs in Canada became EPEC-Pediatrics Trainers who taught the curriculum to health professionals (learners) and implemented quality improvement (QI) projects. Trainers recorded the number of learners at each education session and progress on QI goals. Learners completed knowledge surveys. Care quality was assessed through surveys with a cross-sectional sample of children with cancer and their parents about symptoms, quality of life, and care quality plus reviews of deceased patients' health records.
Results: Seventy-two Trainers taught 3475 learners; the majority (96.7%) agreed that their PPC knowledge improved. In addition, 10/15 sites achieved practice change QI goals. The only improvements in care quality were an increased number of days from referral to PPC teams until death by a factor of 1.54 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.17-2.03) and from first documentation of advance care planning until death by a factor of 1.50 (95% CI = 1.06-2.11), after adjusting for background variables.
Conclusion: While improvements in care quality were only seen in two areas, our approach was highly effective in achieving knowledge dissemination, knowledge improvement, and practice change goals.
Keywords: oncology; palliative care education; pediatric palliative care.