Educating Palliative Care Staff Increases Utilization of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Manage Depression in Palliative Care Patients with Chronic Pain

Abstract

Patients under palliative care commonly experience a multitude of conditions that contribute to the development of chronic pain and depression. These patients are also commonly prescribed opioid analgesic medications to promote palliation and comfort. Higher rates of underlying depression among patients with chronic pain has been shown to increase risks for self-medicating and inappropriate use of prescribed opioids. Inappropriate use of opioids poses serious concerns for patients’ health, and also presents a significant burden on the US healthcare system. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has been demonstrated to be a potentially useful non-pharmacological method for addressing depressive symptoms without common side effects seen in traditional antidepressant therapy. The purpose for this project was to educate palliative care staff members, including providers, nurses and social workers, concerning the benefits of using MBCT for addressing depression among patients with chronic pain, while also potentially improving upon patients’ adherence to taking opioids as prescribed. A pretest survey was distributed to participants to gain insight into their beliefs and understanding concerning the use of MBCT in the treatment of depression. Following the completion of the pretest, an educational webinar was distributed to participants which was then be followed by a posttest survey containing the same questions as the pretest survey. All participation was voluntary, and the identity of all participants will remain anonymous to promote confidentiality throughout the project. There were a total of 25 participants for this project with six unique pretest/posttest responses collected and analyzed accordingly which showed significant improvement in each category which thus supports the merit of educating palliative care staff regarding the use of MBCT for patients which chronic pain and depression who are under palliative care.