Assessment of Training Need for National Program for Palliative Care and Digital Legacy Planning among Medical Officers of an Eastern State of India.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study is to assess training needs and the status of digital legacy and advanced care planning amongst participants. Following the World Health Assembly resolution, the Government of India launched National Programme for Palliative Care (NPPC) for a continuum of physical, psychosocial, and spiritual care of those suffering from life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses and their caregivers. As a process of implementation, capacity building with a nationwide cascade model training has been started with medical officers (M.O.s) at the district levels.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from February to April 2024 amongst 260 M.O.s of four randomly selected districts of West Bengal. A semi-structured and validated questionnaire containing single-answer multiple-choice questions with a maximum score of 30 was used for pre- and post-training assessment. Digital death survey 2024 (open) was used for assessing digital legacy and end-of-life care planning.

RESULTS: Paired t-test showed a significant difference (P < 0.05) in mean scores of pre- and post-training. The univariate general linear model showed 69% of unmet training need. 202 (77.7%), 241 (92.7%), 217 (83.5%), and 258 (99.2%) expressed their unfamiliarity with digital legacy, assets, death and immortality, respectively. None was found to document wishes for end-of-life medical and/or social care in advance or an anticipatory care plan.

CONCLUSION: Periodic training of M.O.s is an exigency for smooth running of NPPC and integration of palliative care in primary health care.