Meeting People Where They Are: Palliative Care Across H

Americans For Better Care Of The Dying, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

In 2000 and 2001, Americans for Better Care of the Dying joined with the D.C. Partnership to Improve End-of-Life Care to conduct dinner conferences focused on improving end-of-life care. The conferences: Incorporating End-of-Life Care into your Curriculum and Effective Interdisciplinary Teams: An -End-of-Life Model, drew over 135 people to meet and discuss much of the current research in end-of-lie care training, including the American Medical Association's EPEC (Education for Physicians in End-of-Life Care) curriculum, and the corresponding American Association The planned half data conferences set for September 13, 2002, at Georgetown University, "Making Change Happen in Palliative Care," will broaden the focus to build on national research, as well as on the success of these two previous conferences. * disseminate and expand findings from the Institute of Medicine's 2001 report, Improving Palliative Care for Cancer * document and present effective models of palliative care throughout the region and the nation * enhance the collaboration that has resulted from the formation of the Community-State Partnerships to Improve End-of-life Care, funded in part by the Robert Wood Johnson in 19 states and the District of Columbia, and foster increased interdisciplinary care of dying patients and their families. Among those who will attend the September conference will be leaders of hospice, hospital palliative care, and nursing home palliative care programs. In addition, health professionals from emergency rooms, intensive care units, nursing home chronic care units, transplant programs, and various pediatric programs will be invited. All health professional, including physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, therapists, ethicists and other allied health staff will be included as speakers and participants. Approximately 200 participants are expected. Based on information gleaned from the two dinner programs and the poster session, as well as a brief survey conducted with a small group of attendees at the 2001 program, the health-day conference will include two plenary sessions: (1) the IOM report and how that information can be expanded to cover patients with a variety of diagnoses, and (2) the special needs of minority populations, including the difficult questions of access to care.