Effectiveness of Building Neonatal and Pediatric Palliative Care Capacity in India: An International Interprofessional Simulation Collaboration

Abstract :

Background: India has the poorest inequity score for newborn and child health intervention among all countries in the Southeast-Asian Region. India was also designated as a Level 3a palliative care category, or Isolated Palliative Care Provision, which indicates that care is still limited in scope and not well supported (Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Association, 2020).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a neonatal and pediatric care specialty education and simulation program among an interprofessional healthcare team in India.
Theoretical Framework: A Model for Upscaling Nurse and Midwifery Partnerships (Spies et al., 2017) served as the guiding framework. This logic model has a primary output of advancing global health by expanding practice capacity through international partnerships.

Methods: A quantitative one-arm pre-test/ post-test and correlational design was used. The intervention included a 3-day workshop to deliver culturally responsive neonatal and pediatric palliative care education including participation in a validated simulation adapted by Brock et al, (2015) using standardized patients.

Results: Post-intervention scores were significantly higher than pre-intervention scores for self-assessment, education assessment, and knowledge assessment. The mean score of barriers to palliative care utilization had no significant difference between the pre- and post-intervention. Simulation scenarios were reported as the most useful part of the workshop by 85.7% of participants.
Implications: Designing and incorporating culturally responsive neonatal and pediatric simulation scenarios for use in Indian pre-licensure curriculum and post-licensure continuing education programs is a high priority recommended strategy to improve patient outcomes.