Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project is to administer the Palliative Care Knowledge Scale (PaCKS) before and after implementing a 4-minute educational video about palliative care.|Background: Continued evidence demonstrates that palliative care repeatedly reduces pain, improves symptom control, and reduces the cost of healthcare. Unfortunately, most patients are referred to palliative services too late, many within 1-2 months of death, some not at all. Patients are often misinformed or uninformed about palliative care and the services that it can provide, often delaying or restricting their participation.|Sample/Setting: Data was collected from a single outpatient oncology office in the Midwest. A sample population was obtained through a convenience sampling technique of 79 patients over an 8-week period.|Methods: The Palliative Care Knowledge Scale (PaCKS) was chosen to assess patient’s baseline knowledge of palliative care. If willing to participate, patient’s sign a consent and take a pre-survey (PaCKS). Once done they watch a 4-minute video about palliative care. After watching the video, the patient will take a post-survey (PaCKS).|Results: On average, participants scored about a half point higher on the post-survey (M = 12.51, SE = .12), than they did on the pre-survey (M = 12.05, SE = .2). This difference, .46, 95% CI [-.03, .95] was non-significant t(77) = 1.89, p = .06, and reflects a relatively small effect size, d = 0.21. When asked if patients would have a desire to participate in a palliative care program and if they felt that palliative care was important, 75% and 83% of ‘unsure’ participants changed to ‘yes’ which seems potentially valuable.|Conclusion: Although the video did not significantly increase patient’s knowledge of palliative care, it could potentially increase a patient’s desire to participate in a palliative care program and their perception that palliative care is important