Strengthening palliative care in primary health centres through knowledge enhancement (SPARK) for nurses in Indonesia: a randomised controlled study.

BACKGROUND

Nurses working in primary health centres have limited access to palliative care education.

AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of an online palliative care learning programme for primary health centre nurses in Indonesia.

METHODS

A randomised controlled trial with a parallel design was conducted at four time points (pre-post, 4 and 8 weeks). The intervention group received online modules, videos and five group meetings; the control group received only e-modules. Double-blinded randomisation with consecutive sampling was used.

RESULTS

A total of 61 primary health centre nurses participated (intervention=34; control=27) from Java, Bali, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. The control group had higher knowledge scores at 8 weeks. Perceived difficulty was significantly lower in the intervention group immediately post-intervention, with no significant group differences in reported practice perceptions.

CONCLUSIONS

The SPARK programme reduced perceived difficulty and supported reported practice among primary health centre nurses, offering a promising online education model for similar health systems.