Expanding the Palliative Care Workforce during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Evaluation of Core Palliative Care Skills in Health Social Workers.

Background: Meeting the needs of seriously ill SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) patients requires novel models of deploying health social workers (SWs) to expand the palliative care workforce. To inform such expansion, understanding the current state of health SWs' core palliative care skills is necessary. Methods: Following minimal training, health SWs in one New York City hospital were surveyed about their frequency, competence, and confidence in using core palliative care skills. Results: Of the 170 health SWs surveyed, 46 (27%) responded, of whom 21 (46%) and 24 (52%) had palliative care training before and during the COVID-19 surge, respectively. Health SWs reported a "moderate improvement" in the use of three skills: "identify a medical decision maker," "assess prognostic understanding," and "coordinate care." There was "minimal decrease" to "no improvement" to "minimal improvement" in competence and confidence of skill use. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that educational initiatives can improve health SWs' use of core palliative care skills.

Geriatrics and palliative medicine leadership is needed now more than ever: What are the training gaps?

BACKGROUND: Geriatrics and palliative medicine specialists are uniquely trained to provide expert coordinated care for older adults and seriously ill and complex patients. Health system leadership geared towards this patient population is critically important as society ages. Currently, there is no standardized approach to teaching core leadership skills. To assess the leadership training needs of geriatrics and palliative medicine fellowship graduates, we conducted a needs assessment to identify (1) early career leadership trajectories and challenges and (2) knowledge and skills deemed essential for effective leadership. METHODS: Individuals identified as leaders in geriatrics and/or palliative medicine completed an electronic survey and a semi-structured qualitative interview. These leaders were divided into two categories: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) trained leaders or non-ISMMS trained leaders. The semi-structured interviews were recorded, transcribed, and reviewed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Within 1 year of fellowship graduation, 50% of ISMMS trained leaders had leadership positions; within 6 years, 100% had a leadership role. Based on qualitative interviews, both ISMMS trained leaders and non-ISMMS trained leaders perceived leadership training gaps in two domains: (1) knowledge and (2) skills. Knowledge and skill gap themes included communication and management, mentorship and negotiation, program development, knowledge, and apprenticeship. CONCLUSION: Geriatrics and palliative medicine physicians obtained leadership roles quickly after fellowship. Both ISMMS trained leaders and non-ISMMS trained leaders often felt unprepared, learned "on the job," and sought out additional leadership training. Early leadership training is needed to prepare fellowship graduates for the pressing demands of accelerated leadership.

Decisional Capacity in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

The cognitive and behavioral changes that can be observed in the neurodegenerative terminal disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), once characterized as purely a motor neuron disease, have become increasingly recognized over the past century. Detecting cognitive deficits earlier and identifying continued changes at regular intervals can lead to improved care, proactive treatments, and earlier discussions about end-of-life wishes. Although medical decisional capacity is required for every treatment decision made, its importance becomes paramount when making decisions on complex medical treatments that will invariably and significantly affect quality of life or life itself. In this review, we conducted a critical analysis of the evidence-based literature on the cognitive and behavioral impairments in ALS that can compromise medical decisional capacity. We review specific ALS-related clinical scenarios in which decisional capacity is of utmost importance and discuss a practical framework for cognitive and behavioral assessment that can be routinely and efficiently used, while being mindful of the confounding factors associated with ALS. Finally, we review models for preserving patient choices that can be used in patients with ALS to help safeguard autonomy and retain dignity toward the end of life.