Evaluating the impact of national education in pediatric palliative care: the Quality of Care Collaborative Australia

Penelope J Slater,1 Anthony R Herbert,2,3 Sarah J Baggio,2 Leigh A Donovan,2 Alison M McLarty,2 Julie A Duffield,4 Lee-anne C Pedersen,2,3 Jacqueline K Duc,2 Angela M Delaney,2 Susan A Johnson,2 Melissa G Heywood,5 Charlotte A Burr6 On behalf of Quality of Care Collaborative Australia 1Oncology Services Group, Queensland Children’s Hospital, Children’s Health Queensland, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia; 2Paediatric Palliative Care Service, Queensland Children’s Hospital, Children’s Health Queensland, QLD, Australia; 3Centre for Children’s Health Research at Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, QLD, Australia; 4Paediatric Palliative Care Service, Women’s and Children’s Health Network, Adelaide, SA, Australia; 5Victorian Paediatric Palliative Care Program, The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; 6Western Australia Paediatric Palliative Care Service, Perth Children’s Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia Purpose: The Quality of Care Collaborative Australia (QuoCCA) provided pediatric palliative care education across Australia with the aim of improving the quality of services. The education was delivered through a collaboration of six tertiary pediatric palliative care services, through funding for Nurse Educators, Medical Fellows, a National Allied Health Educator, and national project staff.Methods: Pre- and post-education surveys were completed by participants immediately following the education, and confidence and knowledge were measured along nine domains related to the care of the child and family, including managing a new referral, symptom management, medications, preparing the family, and using local agencies.Results: Education was provided to over 5,500 health and human service professionals in 337 education sessions across Australia between May 2015 and June 2017. Paired pre- and postsurveys were completed by 969 pa