Reviewed: October 9, 2007
History of 10 New Emerging Teams across Canada
NETs in BC
NETs in other provinces
History of 10 New Emerging Teams across Canada
The Term "palliative care" refers not only the care and management of patients approaching the end of life but also addresses the reduction of suffering throughout the course of illness and, for family, into bereavement.
Quality of care toward and at the end of life is also a significant issue. Many of the people who could benefit from palliative and end-of-life care do not receive it. All too often it is left to patients, their families and a loosely knit community of volunteer organizations to sort through the myriad of physical, psychological, spiritual and ethical choices.
In June 2003, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and partners launched a palliative and end-of-life care initiative to conduct reseaches the best to provide these service gaps.
The initiative was designed to support
- infrastructure development
- enhance interdisciplinary research collaboration
- encourage the development of early career researchers and attract trainees to this emerging area.
The three components of the initiative were:
- One-year pilot projects designed to target and assess innovative approaches in implementing palliative and end of life care;
- Five-year New Emerging Team (NET)
grants designed to build capacity and to promote the formation of new research teams or the growth of small existing teams; and
- One-year Career Transition Awards, intended to attract researchers wishing to change their research focus within the field of palliative care or to enter the field from another discipline.
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NETs in BC
- Transitions in pediatric palliative and end of life care
The overarching goal of the pediatric palliative care NET is to create knowledge and evidence so children with life-limiting conditions - and their families - get the best care possible. This will be achieved through:
- Unique relationship with the only two children’s hospices in North America - Canuck Place and George Mark Children’s House - will play a key role in our work
- Commitment to international collaboration and sharing of vision, wisdom, research findings, and experiences
- Family Caregiver NET
Family caregivers have long been the backbone of the Canadian health care system, giving an estimated 75 - 85% of all care. Caregiving can be a very rewarding experience, but the associated burdens can, over time, exceed the caregiver's capacity to cope.
A team of researchers, led by Dr. Kelli Stajduhar of the University of Victoria and Dr. Robin Cohen of McGill University, will examine how to optimize the family caregiving experience and reduce some of the devastating consequences that can result from long-term caregiving.
"There are financial, social, psychological and physical problems that are the result of care-giving," explains Dr. Stajduhar, "we want to lessen the health risk and also inform policies, provide support and train people to become researchers in the field."
- Victoria Palliative Research Network New Emerging Team (VPRN-NET)
The goal of the Victoria Palliative Research Network New Emerging Team (VPRN-NET) project is to improve communication between care providers, patients and families.
Dr. Francis Lau, professor at the Department of Health Information Science, University of Victoria and Peter Kirk, Research Director of the Vancouver Island Health Authority, will use their NET grant to examine questions such as:
- "Do patients tell their physicians the same message that they share with nurses or counsellors?"
- "Do different care providers communicate in a way that enables meaningful sharing?"
The project will also look into methods of communicating with our patients and give them sufficient information about their prognosis and alternatives so that they can make informed decisions.
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NETs in other provinces
End of life care and vulnerable populations
Dr. Harvey Chochinov and his colleagues from the University of Manitoba will focus on the unique challenges and barriers often faced by vulnerable populations such as the
- elderly
- people whose terminal illness is associated with a long trajectory of decline
- limitations to their ability to function, and
- those with longstanding disabilities.
Dr. Chochinov has produced a detailed model for delivering "dignity-conserving care" at the end of life.
His findings suggest that, in the care of dying patients, there are therapeutic options that reach far beyond the relief of pain and other symptoms.
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A multi-disciplinary cancer pain research network to improve the classification, assessment, and management of difficult cancer pain problems (Pain Net)
Dr. Neil Hagen of the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary, Alberta, is leading a team of investigators that will form the Cancer Pain Research Network. Researchers will investigate the
- standardization of pain classification and assessment tools
- develop innovative new cancer pain interventions
- implement a new data base management system for rapid assessment, and
- develop a rigorous new graduate research training model
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End of Life Care for Seniors (ELCS-NET)
This research program will bring together specialists in geriatrics and palliative care and examine the quality of end-of-life care for seniors in terms of
- personal and social environments
- structure, outcomes and provision of care.
Sub-themes include researches on:
- rural health
- volunteers
- patient’s sense of burden
- delirium, and
- transitions through palliative care health services
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Understanding and improving communication and decision-making at the end of life
Dr. Daren Heyland, of Kingston General Hospital and Queens University, is leading a team of researchers to collect data from a wide range of health care environments
- intensive Care Units
- hospitals
- home settings
in order to enhance communication strategies, decision-making and care to yield the greatest improvements for families at end-of-life.
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Cancer-associated cachexia-anorexia syndrome
Advanced malnutrition is a source of unnecessary suffering that contributes to death in many patients.
A team of investigators led by Dr. Vickie Baracos of the University of Alberta will:
- investigate nutritional and psychological issues leading to malnutrition in advanced cancer patients and
- develop nutritional intervention therapies that will lead to an enhanced quality of life
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Developing, evaluating and implementing new interventions in palliative care
Cancer and other life-threatening diseases raise the issues of pain and other physical symptoms which broadens the concept of suffering to consist of physical, emotional and existential dimensions.
Lead by Pierre Gagnon, a psychiatrist specialized in psycho-oncology, this NET team will tackle various symptoms and problems by developing new interventions that target suffering associated with life-limiting illnesses.
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