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Context: Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine (PRIM) department members anonymously reported a positive experience with work from home (WFH) two months after its rapid pandemic transition in March 2020. Data are limited on the stability of such preferences and experiences over time. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to survey the attitudes and beliefs of PRIM employees toward remote work 16 months after the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic since vaccines and to determine changes in perceptions of WFH. Methods: All 138 PRIM employees were invited to participate in an anonymous survey from mid-July to mid-August 2021. The 30-question survey included demographics, perceptions toward WFH, and the pandemic. Results: One hundred fifteen (83%) employees completed the survey: 29 (74%) research, 62 (83%) clinicians, and 24 (100%) administrative personnel. Most were female (76%), 30–59 years old (88%), PRIM employees before May 2020 (89%), shared office space (52%), and had received either first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (88%). Overall experience (86%) and emotional response (74%) with WFH were positive and not significantly different from 2020 (p = 0.128 and 0.782, respectively). Positive experience was associated with having adequate equipment (p = 0.002), perception of productivity (p = 0.002), financial advantage (p = 0.002), and time demands caring for dependents (p = 0.038). Clinicians reported less positive response (78%, p = 0.002) and less productivity (49%, p = 0.002) with WFH and higher level of stress (54%, p = 0.026) since COVID-19. Employees continued to support WFH permanently (79%) for two or more days/week (82%). There was continued increased emotional exhaustion (71%) similar to 2020 (p = 0.868), and being asked to work partially or completely from home permanently was favored by 64% versus 97% and 96% of clinicians, research, and administrative, respectively (p = 0.002). Conclusions: Support for WFH was sustained a year later and after three pandemic waves. These findings serve as a model for future rapid work transitions and can help elucidate factors associated with stress and emotional exhaustion in a new post-COVID-19 work environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telehealth use has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic and provided access for palliative care patients often facing challenges with travel and limited specialist availability. Our palliative care clinic at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has rapidly adopted telehealth which continues to grow and provide care for patients since the pandemic, becoming a routine part of our center. While we strive to maintain consistency when it comes to compassionate, sensitive verbal and non-verbal communication, we have witnessed both advantages and disadvantages to telehealth services. We have come across unanticipated virtual visit challenges while trying to deliver quality care, surprising us from the other side of the camera. In this paper, we describe three cases of unexpected telehealth etiquette that posed new challenges in being able to complete virtual visits. We propose guidelines for setting patient etiquette for a productive telehealth palliative visit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]