Caregiver Evaluation of a Palliative Care Consultation Team Using the Jefferson Teamwork Observation Guide (JTOG) by Caregivers of Severely Ill Patients

Authors

John Liantonio, MD, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Beth Wagner, CRNP, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Kristine Swartz MD, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Molly Hanson, CRNP, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Kathleen Mechler, MD, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Brooke Worster, MD, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Carol Brown, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Susan Parks MD, Jefferson Medical CollegeFollow

Abstract

Background:

Palliative care teams strive to improve the quality of life of patients and their families who are faced with life threatening illnesses by addressing the physical, psychosocial and spiritual aspects of their care (World HealthOrganization, 2017). The palliative care team is an interprofessional team made up of physicians, nurses, social workers and chaplains and often partners with many other disciplines. Palliative care has been shown to increase quality of life in patients with cancer and help improve communication amongst patients, their families and their care teams (Temel, 2010; Seow, 2008). Additionally, many studies have sought to prove the effectiveness of palliative care using validated tools such as the FAMCARE survey with mixed results (Parker, 2013).

The goal of this project was to use a different validated tool, the JTOG, to analyze the effectiveness of our interprofessional team. Because palliative care is not a medical specialty whose effectiveness can be measured by procedural outcomes, teams often seek using satisfaction scores as a means of measuring how well they are doing. The JTOG replaced our prior patient satisfaction survey. The results are described below.

Recommended Citation

Liantonio, MD, John; Wagner, CRNP, Beth; Swartz, Kristine MD; Hanson, CRNP, Molly; Mechler, MD, Kathleen; Worster, MD, Brooke; Brown, Carol; and Parks, Susan MD (2017) "Caregiver Evaluation of a Palliative Care Consultation Team Using the Jefferson Teamwork Observation Guide (JTOG) by Caregivers of Severely Ill Patients," Collaborative Healthcare: Interprofessional Practice, Education and Evaluation (JCIPE): Vol. 8: Iss. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://jdc.jefferson.edu/jcipe/vol8/iss1/2