Improving End-of-Life Care
The Washington Home Center for Palliative Care Studies is a scholarly team that conducts research and supports quality improvement efforts designed to make the end of life comfortable and meaningful. In particular, the Center works to help the public learn how to manage end-of-life issues, and to help health care providers learn how to improve their practices. The Center, which has been at work since 1995, was operated by RAND from 2000-2005.
Staff at the Center work closely with the Americans for Better Care of the Dying (ABCD), a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all Americans can count on good care at the end of life. ABCD focuses on educating the public and policymakers about the problems that seriously ill persons and their families face, and the kinds of improvements that public policy might encourage.
ABCD's web site provides ready access to a wide range of resources on end-of-life care. For example:
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ABCD Exchange, a free on-line newsletter, describes innovative practices in end-of-life care and provides updates on end-of-life issues including the law, resources, congressional activity, and new research.
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Both providers and individuals can draw on a list of resources covering topics ranging from end-of-life, hospice and palliative care, and disease-specific organizations grief, to bereavement and counseling, quality improvement, pain, and the law.
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The Center's Handbook for Mortals, which offers common sense advice about issues ranging from pain management to navigating the care system, helps patients and families take charge of the end of life. Excerpts from the book and ordering information are available.
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The Center's Improving Care for the End of Life: A Sourcebook for Clinicians and Managers, is intended to help provider organizations improve care. Excerpts from the book and ordering information are available.
Quality improvement efforts in end-of-life care are remarkable effective. In collaboration with the Institute for Health Care Improvement, the Center is launching an Initiative for Quality in End-of-Life Care. This Initiative will provide "toolkits" to catalyze improvement activities, lead Breakthrough Series Collaboratives, convene national and regional meetings, consult with interested care systems and regions, and generally try to encourage rapid improvement in hundreds of care systems nationwide.
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