Interprofessional education in palliative care: a theory-informed evaluation of a storyline-based curriculum for health and social care students

A storyline-based interprofessional palliative care course was associated with high student satisfaction and favorable ratings for communication, knowledge of other professional groups and team-oriented problem solving, according to a mixed-methods evaluation at Hochschule Hannover. The study examined the second implementation cycle of the course, “Interprofessional Collaboration in Palliative Care,” during the summer term of 2025, involving students from medicine, nursing, social work and religious education.

Twenty-five students enrolled in the course. Nineteen completed a quantitative survey assessing knowledge, attitudes and skills, and 10 took part in two focus groups examining learning experiences and interprofessional collaboration. Qualitative data were analyzed using inductive-deductive content analysis with MAXQDA 2024. Because the focus groups included only a subset of students, their accounts describe the perspectives of those participants rather than the entire cohort. The study was an evaluation of one course cycle at one institution, not a controlled test of clinical performance or patient outcomes.

Students reported high satisfaction with the course structure, practical orientation and storyline method. The narrative format was described as supporting engagement and team-based learning, while survey responses were particularly positive for social and communication skills, knowledge of other professional groups and team-oriented problem solving. These results indicate that participants perceived the course favorably across several assessed areas. The evidence does not establish whether the course caused lasting changes in students’ knowledge or skills, or whether it affected collaboration in clinical practice.

The curriculum was designed around the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative framework, Social Identity Theory and Transformative Learning Theory. According to the study description, the course combined narrative-based and experiential methods to support learning about professional identity, values, ethical responsibilities and collaborative palliative care. Qualitative analysis identified 11 sub-codes within three main codes. One theme concerned how the narrative design enabled reflection on professional identity and ethical responsibilities. Another concerned uneven professional representation: medical and nursing students were underrepresented in some groups, a composition students perceived as a risk of reinforcing professional hierarchies. A third theme captured requests for more balanced representation, additional discipline-specific content and clinical experiences such as hospice visits or contact with patients.

The authors concluded that the theoretically grounded, narrative-based curriculum can support interprofessional competence and reflection on professional roles in palliative care, while also identifying limitations in group composition and the integration of authentic clinical experience. They noted that future programs must account for time constraints, balance narrative engagement with discipline-specific depth, and consider structured clinical placements or simulated patient encounters. These are recommendations from the study authors, not interventions tested in the reported evaluation. Overall, the findings describe a promising course format for engaging mixed groups of health and social care students, while showing that participation alone did not ensure balanced interprofessional learning in every group.

Subject of Research: Evaluation of a storyline-based interprofessional palliative care curriculum for health and social care students

Article Title: Interprofessional education in palliative care: a theory-informed evaluation of a storyline-based curriculum for health and social care students

Article References: Afshar, K., Grimm, F., Kopke, K., Goral, A., & Schwabe, S. (2026). Interprofessional education in palliative care: a theory-informed evaluation of a storyline-based curriculum for health and social care students. BMC Medical Education, 26(1), Article 1702. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-10663-3

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-10663-3

Keywords: palliative care, interprofessional education, storytelling, medical education, nursing education, social work education, religious education, teamwork, professional identity, ethical reflection, Interprofessional, education