Healthcare professionals’ perspectives toward innovation in palliative care across European settings: an exploratory mixed-methods study

Abstract

Innovation in palliative care often relies on technological advancements, yet its implementation depends on complex organizational and systemic conditions. An exploratory cross-sectional mixed-methods survey study was conducted to investigate healthcare professionals’ perspectives on innovation across multiple European contexts. Survey data assessed perceived implementation, openness to innovation, management support, and familiarity versus use of digital tools, complemented by qualitative open-ended responses. Findings suggest that while participants demonstrated high conceptual openness to innovation, defining it as a multidimensional process encompassing communication, continuity of care, and service reorganization, a marked awareness-implementation gap was identified. Even though familiarity with digital technologies is widespread, routine use remains limited. Barriers were primarily structural, including funding instability, workforce pressures, fragmented infrastructure, and insufficient institutional alignment, rather than ideological resistance. This study underscores that sustainable digital transformation in palliative care requires strengthening system readiness, integrating infrastructure investment, leadership engagement, and human-centered implementation strategies to ensure innovation reinforces relational models of care.