The ALS Association Partners With The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation To Improve End-Of-Life Care
Published Report Shows End-of-Life Care Needs to be Improved
In an effort to improve palliative care for people with ALS, the Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care National Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has released a report that details optimum end-of-life care, the current state of this care, and what can be done to close the gaps between the two.
Mary Lyon, The ALS Association vice president of patient services, managed the process from helping to select members of the ALS Peer Workgroup to organizing the meetings and contributing to the writing.
As part of a larger project studying palliative care for people with terminal illnesses, the ALS Peer Workgroup was established to identify topics and issues that pertain specifically to end-of-life care in ALS, including psychosocial care, bereavement, spirituality, quality of life, caregiver issues, communication skills, ethics, decision making, symptom management, access to care, costs of care and knowledge/education. Click here to read
Once these issues were identified, the ALS Peer Workgroup compiled research and information from its 22 members to develop the report. The results showed that there is more to learn about palliative care and a great deal that needs to be improved in order to provide people with ALS and their families a higher quality of life throughout this disease and particularly at the end of life. The Workgroup made multiple recommendations to the field, listing steps that would begin to facilitate improvement and expansion in palliative care.
The ALS Association is honored to have played a role in the development of such an important project and is optimistic about the impact that this report will have on palliative care policy, education and practice. To view the full report, please click here.
 View Report
|
