Tijdschrift voor gerontologie en geriatrie, Volume 55, Issue 3, 17 3 2024, Pages 2-16 [Clinical ethics support with CURA. Acceptability and feasibility among medical practitioners in geriatric and palliative medicine]. Swart LM, van Schaik MV, Garstman CCS, Sizoo EM, Metselaar S
Introduction
Moral conflicts are common within geriatric and palliative care and can lead to moral distress. Clinical ethics support helps healthcare providers in managing moral conflicts and moral distress. CURA is a low-threshold clinical ethics support instrument. The feasibility for nurses and nurse-assistants in palliative care has already been investigated. However, the acceptability and feasibility of CURA within medical practitioners is unclear.
Methods
Prospective cohort study, using mixed methods. Participants are medical practitioners working in geriatric or palliative care, who attended a workshop on CURA. They received a baseline questionnaire (n=41) after the workshop regarding acceptability and a follow-up questionnaire (n=22) after three months regarding feasibility. Additionally, in-depth interviews (n=7) were conducted.
Results
68% of participants expressed intention to use CURA at baseline; 32% were uncertain. 14% has actually used CURA after three months. Feasibility is dependent of several factors: (1) recognizing a moral situation; (2) familiarity with the methodology; (3) scheduling a CURA moment; (4) the role of colleagues and the healthcare organization.
Conclusion
Whereas CURA is an acceptable tool for medical practitioners, feasibility is found to be low if practitioners do not receive additional training and support.
