Can sharing stories change practice? A qualitative study of an interprofessional narrative-based palliative care course

Abstract

A series of six interprofessional palliative care meetings used narrative, with participants sharing stories from their professional experience in facilitated small groups. The course was attended by doctors, nurses, social workers and emergency care practitioners. The course was evaluated by telephone interview with 19 of the 28 participants. Respondents reported effects including changed behaviours and benefit to patients. The use of narrative, as a starting point for shared learning, discussion and evaluation is unusual. Five months after the end of the course, many participants described changed professional behaviour which they believed led to improved patient outcomes.

Keywords:

• Palliative care
• interprofessional learning
• narrative-based education
• narrative analysis
• qualitative evaluation