Elena-Simona Crisan

Elena-Simona Crisan

 

 

 

 

Elena-Simona Crisan

 

Nova-Vita Hospital, Targu-Mures

 

Romania

 

 

 

 

Getting Started in Palliative Care – for general practitioners in Mures county, Romania

Background
The aging of the population has led to an increase in the number of patients requiring palliative care. For patients without complex needs this can be done by the general practitioners (GPs),to which most of the population has access. Mures county has a majority rural population. GPs are there the main resource for providing palliative care. GPs from Mures County did not have a palliative care curriculum prior to graduating from the university. The lack of notions in the field of palliative care leads to the need of medical postgraduate education in this field for GPs in Mures County.

Aim
The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of educational intervention using a multimodal curriculum of palliative care on 20 GPs from Mures County, basic notions needed in the cabinet.

Methods
A total of 27 doctors accepted a multimodal curriculum that included 4 modules. We evaluated the educational intervention after the first two modules have been completed so far.
A total of 27 participants, of which 20 GPs from Mures county.
We excluded from the study 7 doctors with other specialties.
A structured questionnaire was administered before and after the courses, to evaluate improvements in medical doctors’ knowledge (clinical management and principles)of palliative care. All 20 GPs had completed questionnaires, there were no missing or blank questionnaires. Following testing, a maximum score of 10 could be obtained.

Results
Grades obtained after testing the knowledge:
Pre-test results: mean 6.52 (grades between 2.40 and 9.20)
Post-test results: mean  9.04 (grades between 8.00 and 10)
Difference between means = 2.52 ( statistically significant p = 0.001, CI = 95%)

Conclusion
After the first half of the postgraduate education program, an improvement in the level of knowledge in the field of palliative care has been achieved for GPs from Mures County.