While most groups delivering palliative care believe continuity of care is an essential component of improving care at the end-of-life, nationally there are few such efforts being evaluated. The Colorado Trust, a private grantmaking foundaiton, designed The Colorado Trust Palliative Care Initiaitve in 2000 with the goal to improve care at end-of-life through a series of eight funded collaborative "networks". Networks are made up of essential agencies dealing with end-of-life in a given community; hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, etc. Networks were selected to reflect, among other things, the rural/urban diversity of Colorado. While the primary goal of each of the eight netowrks is to improve care of the dying, each network is responsible for determining how this will be done. A multi-site evaluation is being conducted to determine 1) if there is an improvement at the patient level in the essential components of good palliative care, and 2) if the collaborative network of agencies contributed to this improvement. While it is too soon to report findings from the evalaution, at the conclusion of this session the participant will be able to: 1) Describe the necessary components of quality end-of-life care and describe how a collaborative network can contribute to this. 2) identify the necesary components in an evaluation of the role of collaborations in care of the dying. 3) recognize the inherent challenges in evalauting an initiative in which there are both state-wide and site-specific goals.
Learning Objectives: 1. Describe the necessary components of quality end-of-life care and describe how a collaborative network can contribute to this. 2. Identify the necessary components in an evalaution of the role of collaborations in improving end-of-life care. 3. Recognize the inherent challenges in evaluating an initiative in which there are both state-wide and site-specific goals.
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The Colorado Trust
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: employer