February 26, 2024: In PRIM-ER Qualitative Study, EM Talk Program Improved Serious Illness Conversation Skills

Posted on by Damon Seils
Dr. Oluwaseun Adeyemi, lead author of the report

Communication skills training using the EM Talk model reached a high proportion of clinicians in participating emergency departments and improved their serious illness conversation skills, according to a qualitative study conducted as part of the PRIM-ER trial. The observed reach and effectiveness of the training program has the potential to improve use of these skills in clinical practice.

The results of the study were published last week in BMC Palliative Care.

PRIM-ER, an ongoing NIH Collaboratory Trial, is a stepped-wedge, cluster randomized trial testing a multidisciplinary primary palliative care intervention in a diverse mix of emergency departments in the United States. The intervention consists of education, clinical decision support, and other elements and is intended to improve the delivery of goal-directed emergency care of older adults.

The PRIM-ER intervention includes, among other elements, communication skills training and simulation workshops for emergency medicine clinicians using the EM Talk training program. The program is designed to improve serious illness conversation skills for emergency medicine physicians and advanced practice providers.

The authors of the report, led by Oluwaseun Adeyemi of New York University, under the guidance of principal investigators Corita Grudzen and Keith Goldfeld, found that 85% of emergency medicine physicians and advanced practice providers across 33 emergency departments completed the EM Talk training. In course evaluations completed after the training, participants reported that the training improved their serious illness conversation skills and their attitude toward engaging patients in serious illness conversations. Participants also reported that the training encouraged them to commit to using these skills in clinical practice.

A previously published study by the PRIM-ER research team reported the reach and effectiveness of a related training program for emergency nurses.

PRIM-ER is supported within the NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory by a cooperative agreement from the National Institute on Aging. Read more about PRIM-ER.