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BHCRI Advance Care Planning

Project Title

Educating Nova Scotia physicians to initiate and engage in advance care planning for cancer patients: a mixed methods study

Time Period and Funding

2014-2016, Ivor Hamilton Cancer Care and Education Award from the , $39,715

Principal Investigator

Robin Urquhart

Co-investigators

Grace Johnston, Geoff Porter, Paul McIntyre, David Henderson, Anne Frances d’Intino, Joan Sargeant, Fred Burge, and Cynthia Kendall

Project Staff

Terrilyn Chaisson for curricular review

Lindsay Grant-Nunn for interviews

Objectives:

• Identify how physicians are currently trained in advance care planning (ACP)
  
  
• Understand patients’ and families’ views of ACP and what they need from their physicians during the process
  
  
• Develop and evaluate an interactive workshop for physicians on ACP

Methods

Phase 1 is a curricular review of undergraduate medical education, post-graduate medical education, and continuing professional development at HÂþ»­ University’s Faculty of Medicine and interviews with 8-10 cancer patients who are suitable candidates for ACP and 8-10 family members of patients with advanced cancer.

Phase 2 is the development of an ACP interactive educational workshop, informed by Phase 1 findings and the most current available best-practice physician education.

Phase 3 is the piloting and evaluation of the educational workshop: participants’ acceptability, satisfaction, confidence, outcome expectancies, and recommendations.

Outputs

The main outcome will be an educational resource for physicians on ACP.

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