Palliative Care Institute formed to improve end-of-life care
With the help of nearly $1 million in grants, three organizations announced Wednesday they have formed a Palliative Care Institute in Buffalo to improve the study, teaching and practice of end-of-life care.
The University at Buffalo, Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Center for Hospice & Palliative Care joined to create a program that aims to expand research projects, standardize curriculums for college students in different academic programs and establish best practices in treatment, especially for dying patients with chronic illnesses.
“At a time when Americans are concerned about rising health care costs and are demanding health care reform, the Palliative Care Institute is a powerful ally to improve health care for one of our community’s most vulnerable populations — people diagnosed with long-term chronic diseases and debilitating illnesses,” said William E. Finn, president and chief executive officer of the Center for Hospice & Palliative Care.
Terminally ill patients, many suffering from long-term chronic illnesses, are frequently burdened by costly and unwanted therapies, unnecessary hospitalizations, poorly controlled symptoms, financial stress and poor communication with their caregivers, according to Finn and others.
“We hope to change behaviors and practices to encourage palliative care and expand the amount of research in the field,” he said.
UB is one of 17 medical schools that partner with a hospice to train specialists in palliative care. One goal of the institute — one of only a handful of such programs in the country— will be to coordinate similar training programs in UB’s schools of nursing and social work.
The Mary and Antonio F. Napoli Endowment Fund is providing $500,000 in seed money to start the institute, including funds to hire staff members who will work out of Hospice’s Cheektowaga center. In addition, a UB researcher has received a $450,000 National Institutes of Health grant to study how people make end-of-life decisions and why they may not choose hospice.
Research into the value and effectiveness of hospice remains in its infancy, and hospice is often mistakenly associated with euthanasia. By having a separate local organization focusing on the expansion of research to prove the benefits of hospice and the training of people in different disciplines, palliative care can gain greater acceptance among the public and policy-makers, officials said.
Hospice officials see an expanding role for palliative care, especially in cases of seriously ill patients with chronic illnesses who want pain and symptom management while they receive curative therapies.
“As we age as a community, I hope we recognize that living with a chronic disease requires a specialty like palliative care,” Finn said.
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