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Observational Study
. 2024 Feb 21;23(1):48.
doi: 10.1186/s12904-024-01349-y.

Serious illness communication skills training for emergency physicians and advanced practice providers: a multi-method assessment of the reach and effectiveness of the intervention

Oluwaseun Adeyemi  1 , Alexander D Ginsburg  2 , Regina Kaur  3 , Allison M Cuthel  4 , Nicole Zhao  1   5 , Nina Siman  1 , Keith S Goldfeld  6 , Lillian Liang Emlet  7 , Charles DiMaggio  6   8 , Rebecca Liddicoat Yamarik  9 , Jean-Baptiste Bouillon-Minois  10 , Joshua Chodosh  6   11   12 , Corita R Grudzen  13 ; PRIM-E. R. Investigators
Collaborators, Affiliations
Observational Study

Serious illness communication skills training for emergency physicians and advanced practice providers: a multi-method assessment of the reach and effectiveness of the intervention

Oluwaseun Adeyemi et al. BMC Palliat Care. .

Abstract

Background: EM Talk is a communication skills training program designed to improve emergency providers' serious illness conversational skills. Using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework, this study aims to assess the reach of EM Talk and its effectiveness.

Methods: EM Talk consisted of one 4-h training session during which professional actors used role-plays and active learning to train providers to deliver serious/bad news, express empathy, explore patients' goals, and formulate care plans. After the training, emergency providers filled out an optional post-intervention survey, which included course reflections. Using a multi-method analytical approach, we analyzed the reach of the intervention quantitatively and the effectiveness of the intervention qualitatively using conceptual content analysis of open-ended responses.

Results: A total of 879 out of 1,029 (85%) EM providers across 33 emergency departments completed the EM Talk training, with the training rate ranging from 63 to 100%. From the 326 reflections, we identified meaning units across the thematic domains of improved knowledge, attitude, and practice. The main subthemes across the three domains were the acquisition of Serious Illness (SI) communication skills, improved attitude toward engaging qualifying patients in SI conversations, and commitment to using these learned skills in clinical practice.

Conclusion: Our study showed the extensive reach and the effectiveness of the EM Talk training in improving SI conversation. EM Talk, therefore, can potentially improve emergency providers' knowledge, attitude, and practice of SI communication skills.

Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03424109; Registered on January 30, 2018.

Keywords: Education and training; Emergency medicine; Palliative care; Serious illness conversation; VitalTalk.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

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References

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