Knowledge Regarding Palliative Care: Comparison Between OT Students & Certified Therapists

PURPOSE: Palliative care (PC) is an important area of practice for healthcare professionals, including OTs, aiming to improve the quality of life of both clients and their families facing a life-threatening illness. It is vital that all health care practitioners are aware and apply the best principles of palliative care. Palliative care knowledge is being given meager importance in the curriculum of medical and other allied medical sciences. This study aimed to assess knowledge regarding PC among undergraduate OT students and certified OTs.

METHOD: 66 undergraduate OT students in their clinical years and 84 OTs in a convenience and snow-ball sample in Israel were surveyed. Students were 20-31 (M=25, SD=2) yrs. old, 99% female. OTs were 24-61 (M=36, SD=9) yrs. old, 96% female. The questionnaire included 61 statements measuring their knowledge on palliative care. Analytical methods included descriptive statistics and crosstabs to compare between groups.

RESULTS: No significant difference in knowledge was found between groups. In both groups approx. 30% reported none to low levels of knowledge related to basic PC terms and methods. Surprisingly, these results remained consistent even when comparing OTs working in rehabilitation-geriatric settings to those in pediatrics and mental health.

CONCLUSION: Overall it appears that a relatively high percentage of both students and therapists report insufficient knowledge regarding PC. In light of the growing need for enhanced OT involvement in PC, these findings, although preliminary, are concerning. Therefore, it is important to improve palliative care education in the OT undergraduate curriculum as well as develop advanced level training for certified OTs. Training for both students and practicing OTs may assist in an ameliorated understanding of the philosophy of PC, deepen the understanding of topics such as being confronted with death, and empower them to advocate for their unique contribution.

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Talbot-Coulombe, C., & Guay, M. (2020). Occupational therapy training on palliative and end-of-life care: scoping review. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 83(10), 609–619. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951521001450

Elsner, F., Müller, A., Gil, W., & Paal, P. (2021). The education is a mirror of where palliative care stands in Israel today: An exploration of palliative care undergraduate education at medical schools in Israel. Palliative and Supportive Care, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951521001450