Competencies for on-call physicians for home medical care: A qualitative study of home care providers' experiences in Japan's super-aged society.

BACKGROUND

In Japan, many older people hope to receive end-of-life care at home. In such situations, team-based home medical care with the support of on-call physicians is needed. However, to date, necessary competencies for the on-call physicians have yet to be clarified. We aim to reveal the competencies for on-call physicians in home medical care settings.

METHOD

This was a qualitative study of semi-structured interviews concerning competencies for on-call physicians in home medical care. We evaluated digitally recorded interviews with eight home care professionals in seven home care facilities (three clinics, one hospital, and three nursing agencies) in A City, Japan. The transcribed data were analyzed by three researchers using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The competencies for on-call physicians were divided into the following six categories: clinical skills for frequent complaints, collecting patients' information in advance, understanding purposes of home care, understanding general roles of home care health professionals, thoughtfulness toward patients' families, and an attitude of humility.

CONCLUSION

These competencies were classified into disease-specific and interpersonal (collaborative) skills in home medical care. The competencies revealed by the study could contribute to the development of effective learning and preparation for on-call physicians who support home medical care.