Objective: To evaluate the effect of a community-based educational programme on palliative care services by exploring the effect on palliative care provision, the individual practitioner and the specialist palliative care services and service providers as organizations.

Variables needing to be studied and methods developed for their evaluation: 1. palliative care delivered to dying people in the community 2. individual community nurse practitioner’s perception of competence in palliative care; 3. interaction between the generalist nurse and palliative care nurse specialists; and 4. palliative care priorities and plans of the community health organizations.

Design: A multi-method approach was developed to address the objectives. Working with stakeholders, community nurse participants, the project management group and involved researchers, feasible operationalization of the variables was accomplished to demonstrate the effect and ‘value-added’ of the educational programme.

Implications: The ability to demonstrate the link between delivered education and important outcomes is often difficult and inconclusive. This poster will discuss the process of developing these outcomes.

Back to Posters II
Back to 15th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004