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CONTACT:
Kathryn Duda
Frank Raczkiewicz
PHONE: (412) 624-2607
FAX: (412) 624-3184
E-MAIL:
DudaK@upmc.edu
RaczkiewiczFA@upmc.edu
University of Pittsburgh Establishes Institute to Enhance Palliative
Care
June 5, 2003
PITTSBURGH, June 5 - The University of Pittsburgh, in collaboration
with Family Hospice and Palliative Care, has established The Institute
to Enhance Palliative Care, a community of scholars and health
professionals from diverse fields who have joined together to improve
care for the seriously ill and dying.
The terms "palliative care" and "hospice" describe
an approach to the care of individuals who are likely to die in
the relatively near future from serious, incurable disease, and
for whom the principal focus of care is comfort, quality of life
and support for the patient, as well as support for the patient's
family throughout the illness and later during the bereavement.
The institute's goal is to improve end-of-life care by expanding
the number and quality of providers of palliative care and to raise
awareness among patients and families of the availability of palliative
care.
"The Institute to Enhance Palliative Care is a response to
well-documented shortcomings in the health care system, in which
large numbers of dying patients and their families suffer needlessly
for lack of comfort, dignity, continuity of care and family support.
These problems are especially persistent in the Pittsburgh region,
which has the second highest proportion of elderly in the United
States, along with a large number of medical institutions and one
of the nation's highest rates of use of hospital intensive care
units for patients who are within six months of death," said
David Barnard, Ph.D., institute director, professor of medicine
and director of palliative care education at the University of
Pittsburgh Center for Bioethics and Health Law.
According to statistics published by the Institute of Medicine
(IOM), 75 percent of patients currently die in institutions, yet
a Gallup poll indicates that 85 percent of Americans would prefer
to die at home. The IOM also reports that more than 40 percent
of patients dying of cancer experience moderate to severe levels
of pain in the last month of life. Palliative care seeks to help
patients like these remain in their homes if that is their desire
and to receive adequate pain medications.
"The institute is particularly welcome at this time because
it is increasingly apparent that patients near the end of life
will benefit from palliative and hospice care to a much greater
extent than from traditional, costly and often invasive hospital
care. The institute's challenge is to determine how to offer this
highly desirable form of care in the most productive way and to
the largest number of patients with this need," said Arthur
S. Levine, M.D., senior vice chancellor for the health sciences
and dean, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh.
The institute will be housed in the School of Medicine's section
of palliative care and medical ethics, where since 2000 a team
of nationally and internationally recognized palliative care professionals
have been conducting research, training health care providers and
caring for patients through several hospitals within the University
of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
"In this unique collaboration between an academic health
care institution and a community-based hospice and palliative care
program, we will have the resources to conduct focused, community-centered
research and training and to provide service and advocacy based
on patients' most significant needs at the end stage of their illness," Dr.
Barnard said.
Family Hospice and Palliative Care has been providing care and
comfort to patients and their families with life-limiting illness
since 1980. One of the first hospice programs in Pennsylvania,
Family Hospice and Palliative Care now serves patients in 11 western
Pennsylvania counties and two Ohio counties.
"The institute will allow Pittsburgh to be counted among
the country's major educational centers that are the focal points
for education and advocacy for quality end-of-life care. It also
highlights the importance and benefit of collaboration and partnership
between local leaders in palliative care," said Raphael Sciullo,
M.A., M.S.W., M.S., president of Family Hospice and Palliative
Care and institute co-director. "The institute will provide
both professionals and laypersons an opportunity to make well informed
choices about end-of-life care."
The Institute to Enhance Palliative Care will focus on three areas:
Education and Training - By combining academic and community-based
resources, the institute will be equipped to improve the training
of all types of health care providers to ensure they have sufficient
skills to manage the growing population of seriously ill and dying
patients, whether these patients receive care at home or in a hospital.
The institute will also mentor and encourage students to choose
careers in palliative care. Various areas of the university will
be involved, such as the Center for Bioethics and Health Law, the
School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, the School of Law and
the departments of behavioral medicine, oncology and social work.
Research - The research component of the institute will build
upon existing health services research at the university by focusing
research on palliative care with a particular focus on education
techniques, communication regarding end-of-life issues, clinical
trials in palliative medicine and the needs of family caregivers.
Partnership with Family Hospice and Palliative Care will enable
the extension of the research to a broad community-based population
far more than is typical for most university-based health care
researchers.
Community Service and Advocacy - The institute will work with
other community groups, such as the End-of-Life Partnership of
Western Pennsylvania and the End-of-Life Providers Task Force,
to help build and support community initiatives in end-of-life
care. It will closely monitor local, state and federal policies
that affect care for seriously ill and dying persons and their
families, and work with policy makers to provide accurate information
to enable more informed decisions and policies at all levels.
Institute co-directors are Mr. Sciullo; Elizabeth Chaitin, M.S.W.,
M.A., D.C.H.E., director, department of medical ethics and palliative
care, UPMC Shadyside; and Robert Arnold, M.D., Leo H. Criep Chair
in Patient Care, professor of medicine, and chief of the section
of palliative care and medical ethics, University of Pittsburgh
School of Medicine.
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kr/06-04-03
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