The study intends to explore feasibility, acceptability, and quality of life outcomes from using web-conferencing technology to connect a hospital-based interdisciplinary pediatric palliative care with statewide field-based hospice teams during interdisciplinary meetings at a minimum of every 15 calendar days for a maximum of six months per enrollee.
The Central Hypothesis is that telepalliative care has the potential to improve the quality of care delivered to pediatric palliative care patients in a rural state by connecting local care providers with palliative care interdisciplinary subspecialists at an academic health center to facilitate improved symptom burden which translates into enhanced quality of life for the pediatric patient and family members, increased confidence and comfort of local providers, and ultimately the creation of a unified and cross-setting shared care model. Aim 1. To investigate the symptom burden for pediatric patients and the quality of life impact for pediatric patients and their families through an interdisciplinary pediatric telepalliative consultation service partnered with local hospice providers with an interface at a minimum of every 15 day intervals. Aim 2. To evaluate the self-efficacy, knowledge, and self-perceived adequacy of local hospice providers in caring for pediatric patients before and after interdisciplinary pediatric telepalliative consultation service partnership with these local hospice providers. Aim 3. To explore the acceptability of teleconferencing services as a form of pediatric palliative care mentorship for local hospice teams caring for children and adolescents. Expected Outcomes Based on geography and shortage of pediatric palliative subspecialists in Nebraska, the current model of hospice services is one in which pediatric patients are managed by local adult-based hospice teams after discharge from the pediatric hospital (34 such in the past 16 months). Sixty percent of academic pediatricians in Nebraska who served as primary providers for consecutive pediatric home discharge patients self-reported feeling "very deficient" to "deficient" when asked about competence after supporting terminal patients and families in care at home (n=12).1 The knowledge gap and discomfort in managing children with complex symptom burden is magnified further for family practice or internal medicine teams serving in hospice roles for children in rural communities. Through a new telepalliative technology platform, this study fosters collaboration and communication to improve the quality of care for pediatric patients receiving hospice care in rural states. This model implements human interaction through technology to challenge the existing paradigm of silo-based care of pediatric palliative care patients. With roll-out of this intervention, we anticipate increase in pediatric hospice utilization (decreased in-hospital deaths). If feasible this model could transform the pediatric hospice care delivery in the state of Nebraska with expanded opportunity for application in settings with similar subspecialty provider shortages.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
30
Pediatric patient specific case discussions for enrolled pediatric patients at hospice staff interdisciplinary team meeting every 15 days for 60 min sessions via telehealth
Children's Hospital & Medical Center
Omaha, Nebraska, United States
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Omaha, Nebraska, United States
To investigate quality of life trend over time for pediatric participants and their families
Using patient-reported \& proxy reported pediatric quality of life metrics longitudinally with pediatric quality of life scale completion by patient \& proxy every 15 days for a total of 3 months. The PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Parent Report measures proxy perception on a child's quality of life. The 21-item PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core consists of the following dimensions: physical functioning, emotional functioning, social functioning, and school functioning. Participants are asked how much of a problem each survey item has been during the past one month. A 5-point response scale is utilized (0 = never; 4 = almost always). On the PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Parent Report items are so that higher scores indicate better Health-Related Quality of Life. To reverse score, the 0-4 scale items are translated to 0-100 as follows: 0=100, 1=75, 2=50, 3=25, 4=0. To create the Total Scale Score, the mean is computed as the sum of all the items over the number of items answered on all the Scales.
Time frame: Every 15 days for a total of 3 months
To evaluate the change in perception of adult-trained hospice providers about caring for pediatric patients on hospice
2 qualitative interview questions asked on Day 1 with the same 2 questions asked again on Month 3. The questions are as follows: a) Please describe your experience caring for a pediatric patient. b) Please describe your experience with telepalliative use.
Time frame: Day 1 of study and at Month 3
To monitor change in telehealth technology acceptance over two week time
TAM-2 Scale (Technology Acceptance Model) completed on Day 1 and Day 14= two time points. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2) is a 15-item questionnaire that measures acceptability of a technology modality. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2) was developed to gauge individuals' intentions and behaviors for technology usage. TAM2 topics include perceived usefulness, ease of use and learnability, interface quality, interaction quality, reliability, satisfaction, and future use. Responses are on a five-point Likert scale (from 1= "highly disagree" to answer 5="highly agree"). Responses are tallied for a total score with a higher score correlating with a higher level of approval/acceptance of the technology modality.
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Time frame: Day 1 and again on Day 14