QOL-48. INTERDISCIPLINARY SPIRITUAL CARE TRAINING IN PEDIATRIC NEURO-ONCOLOGY

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONPediatric neuro-oncology requires attention to not only cancer biology and therapeutics, but also to the suffering of the patient. In addressing patient suffering, consensus guidelines direct attention to the spiritual distress and resources of patients and families. A lack of training has been a key barrier to integrating this aspect of health into patient care.METHODSA neuro-oncologist and a chaplain participated in a train the trainer for the Interprofessional Spiritual Care Education Curriculum (ISPEC) through the George Washington University’s Institute for Spirituality and Health. After the train the trainer, the online curriculum was offered to interdepartmental team members, combined with in-person discussion groups, which met weekly for six sessions. A survey was given before and after the training, and Likert scores were analyzed using the Wilcoxon rank-sum non-parametric test. OUTCOMES: 17 interdisciplinary members participated in the training. These members included neuro-oncologists, neuro-surgeons, rehabilitation physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, physical therapists, music therapists, a child life specialist, a school liaison, and a patient experience specialist. The training resulted in multiple improvements, including increased ability to identify spiritual issues (p=.0278) and increased ability to respond to these issues (p=.0056).CONCLUSIONISPEC addressed a key barrier to providing generalist spiritual care to patients with pediatric brain tumors. Diverse disciplines were represented during the training. With implementation of interdisciplinary spiritual care, outcomes that may be measured in the future include improved quality of life, patient satisfaction, and the resilience of both patients and team members.