Abstract
Introduction Health and social care professionals (professionals) often highlight a lack of knowledge, skills and confidence toward support parents who are at end of life with cancer and have children (<18) necessitating a need for training. The aim of this systematic review was to determine the content, mode of delivery, assessment, and outcomes of educational interventions to equip professionals when delivering end of life supportive care for parents dying with cancer regarding their children.
Methods A mixed-methods systematic review was undertaken. Six electronic database were searched from their inception until September 2023 (Medline OVID, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and ERIC), supplemented by citation chaining, grey literature searches using Google Advanced Search and relevant professional bodies. Quality assessment was conducted independently by two researchers on the included studies. A convergent integrated approach was utilised for data synthesis.
Results The review identified two educational interventions; highlighting a dearth of training opportunities to equip professionals to provide supportive care to families when a parent is at end of life with cancer. Despite professionals reported need and desire for upskilling in this area of clinical practice, there is a severe lack of evidence-based educational interventions. It is imperative that effective educational interventions are made accessible to professionals.
Conclusion There is an imminent need for robust educational interventions to be developed, as professionals often lack the knowledge, skills and confidence on how best to support families when a parent of dependent children is at end of life. Professionals’ engagement with high-quality, evidence-based and theory-driven educational interventions has the potential to impact professionals’ provision of family-centred cancer care at end of life. This could lead to better mental and physical outcomes for the whole family at end of life and in bereavement.
Methods A mixed-methods systematic review was undertaken. Six electronic database were searched from their inception until September 2023 (Medline OVID, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and ERIC), supplemented by citation chaining, grey literature searches using Google Advanced Search and relevant professional bodies. Quality assessment was conducted independently by two researchers on the included studies. A convergent integrated approach was utilised for data synthesis.
Results The review identified two educational interventions; highlighting a dearth of training opportunities to equip professionals to provide supportive care to families when a parent is at end of life with cancer. Despite professionals reported need and desire for upskilling in this area of clinical practice, there is a severe lack of evidence-based educational interventions. It is imperative that effective educational interventions are made accessible to professionals.
Conclusion There is an imminent need for robust educational interventions to be developed, as professionals often lack the knowledge, skills and confidence on how best to support families when a parent of dependent children is at end of life. Professionals’ engagement with high-quality, evidence-based and theory-driven educational interventions has the potential to impact professionals’ provision of family-centred cancer care at end of life. This could lead to better mental and physical outcomes for the whole family at end of life and in bereavement.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Volume | 14 |
| No. | S2 |
| Specialist publication | BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - 18 Mar 2024 |
