Purpose

The goal of this study to test the feasibility, acceptability, and potential impact of a serious illness communication skills training (CST) tailored to rehabilitation professionals to improve their comfort and confidence in navigating difficult conversations with patients and families. Primary Objectives: Aim 1: To assess feasibility and acceptability of a multidisciplinary co-designed interactive CST program for rehabilitation professionals who care for children with serious illness and their families. Aim 2: To characterize the potential impact of this CST intervention on pediatric rehabilitation professionals. Secondary Objective: Aim 3: To examine the perspectives of bereaved parent educators on participation in the implementation of communication training for rehabilitation professionals.

Condition

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
All ages
Eligible Sex
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Inclusion Criteria

Intervention Participants - Licensed rehabilitation professionals (e.g., physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists) employed at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital actively involved in the care of pediatric oncology patients. - Willingness to participate in the communication skills training (CST) intervention and associated study activities. Inclusion Criteria: Intervention Facilitators - St. Jude Bereaved Parent Educators who have participated as an educator in at least one other institutional educational event - Willingness to facilitate the communication skills training (CST) intervention and complete associated study activities.

Exclusion Criteria

Intervention Participants - Non-rehabilitation professionals - Individuals unable to attend the CST intervention session. Exclusion Criteria: Intervention Facilitators - Individuals unable to attend the CST intervention session.

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Non-Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Primary Purpose
Other
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Other
Licensed rehabilitation professionals
Licensed rehabilitation professionals (e.g., physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists) employed at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital actively involved in the care of pediatric oncology patients who will participate in the CST intervention
  • Other: Communication skills training
    See Detailed Description
    Other names:
    • CST
Other
St. Jude Bereaved Parent Educators
St. Jude Bereaved Parent Educators who have participated as an educator in at least one other institutional educational event and will facilitate the CST intervention
  • Other: Communication skills training-Facilitator
    See Detailed Description
    Other names:
    • CST-Facilitator

Recruiting Locations

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Memphis, Tennessee 38105
Contact:
Brittany Cowfer, MD
888-226-4343
referralinfo@stjude.org

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Study Contact

Brittany Cowfer, MD
888-226-4343
referralinfo@stjude.org

Detailed Description

The Communication Skills training (CST) will last approximately 3 hours. It will consist of three main components: Part 1 will begin with an introductory case of an emotional parent, then a brief didactic with a framework on responding to emotion, and end with rehab professionals actively practicing 'drills' using the framework for responding to emotion. Part 2 will be a panel of bereaved parents. Learners will be asked to think of questions to ask the parents in advance and will also be invited to ask questions that come to mind in the moment. Part 3 will be focused on sharing serious news, beginning with an introductory case of sharing cancer progression, followed by didactic teaching in a VitalTalk framework, 'REMAP,' for sharing serious news and eliciting goals/values. Leaders will then introduce role-play via a demonstration case. Next, learners will be divided into small groups for discussion and role-play, with a strong emphasis on principles of psychological safety and learner autonomy. and incorporates didactic instruction, experiential learning, and involvement of bereaved parent educators. Demographic information will be collected for participating bereaved parent educators and rehabilitation professionals. Rehabilitation professionals will complete pre-intervention self-assessment surveys immediately prior to the educational intervention. Post-intervention self-assessment surveys will be administered immediately after completion of the intervention and 3-months post-intervention to assess for retention. Rehabilitation professionals and bereaved parent educators will also be interviewed about their experience following the intervention. The interviews will be done on an individual basis either virtually or in-person.

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.