Fostering timely integrated palliative care in nursing homes through critical companionship: experiences from a Padi-Palli interventional study in France

Abstract

Background: One of the fundamental pillars of integrating a palliative approach in nursing home care is increasing professional competencies and institutional capacity. However, conventional training designs have been proven to fall short of supporting this integration. This paper details the results of a practice development intervention that used critical companionship as a learning design to facilitate the integration of a palliative approach in the care of nursing home residents in France. Objectives: This study aimed to explore the perceived outcomes of Padi-Palli critical companionship in supporting the integration of a palliative approach in the care of residents in nursing homes in France. Design: Qualitative multiple case study situated within a constructivist theoretic lens. Methods: This qualitative multiple case study is part of a larger interventional mixed-method study. Nurses with palliative care clinical expertise facilitated experiential learning with nursing home professionals for 10 months spread across three phases. At the end of the intervention, a purposive sampling method was used to select professionals from six nursing homes that participated, including leaders and critical companions. Focus groups and individual interviews were used to collect data between February 2023 and March 2024. Data analysis followed Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Four interrelated themes explained how Padi-Palli critical companionship enhanced the palliative care competencies of professionals, improved nursing home palliative care practices, supported organisational practices for palliative care and facilitated collaborative learning at the bedside. The collaborative and co-creative principles that informed the delivery of the Padi-Palli critical companionship program facilitated a culture shift towards integrating a palliative approach in resident care at individual, team and organisational levels. Conclusion: Critical companionship offers an innovative practice development approach that can support the delivery of timely palliative care for residents in nursing homes. Trial registration: ID-RCB 2020-A01832-37.