2008 Woodie Awards
Transitioning at the end of life
Abby Bosco
Issue date: 1/28/08 Section: Pulse
The UIC College of Nursing received a $2.4 million grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research in order to create a center focused on the study of the end-of-life transition.
"The American health care system often fails in providing appropriate care to people facing the end-of-life transition," explained center director Diana Wilkie, professor and Harriet Werley Endowed Chair for Nursing Research. "More than half of the people dying of cancer do so with their pain unrelieved and their expressed wishes about life-sustaining treatments not honored."
Research also suggests that parents felt that their children suffered greatly during the last month of life, adds co-director Karen Kavanaugh, professor of maternal-child nursing. In order to improve the care in this transition period, people of all ages facing death will be studied, including infants, children, adults and older adults.
This new center will conduct for new studies led by a team of professionals from various colleges of UIC. One focus will be on patients with advanced heart failure, one on oral health problems in terminally ill cancer patients, one on suicide prevention and the fourth on end-of-life complications for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Catherine Ryan, research assistant, professor of nursing and an expert in critical care, directs the study on advances heart failure. According to Ryan, the long-term prognosis of patients with advanced heart failure remains poor.
She explained, "More than five million people live with advanced heart failure, and accurately predicting the end of the illness trajectory for people with this disease will be extremely beneficial to direct care," and could reduce the annual cost of care for these patients, which is estimated to be $33.2 billion.
The second study on oral health problems will be directed by Dr. Dena Fischer, assistant professor of oral medicine and diagnostic sciences in the UIC College of Dentistry.
"The American health care system often fails in providing appropriate care to people facing the end-of-life transition," explained center director Diana Wilkie, professor and Harriet Werley Endowed Chair for Nursing Research. "More than half of the people dying of cancer do so with their pain unrelieved and their expressed wishes about life-sustaining treatments not honored."
Research also suggests that parents felt that their children suffered greatly during the last month of life, adds co-director Karen Kavanaugh, professor of maternal-child nursing. In order to improve the care in this transition period, people of all ages facing death will be studied, including infants, children, adults and older adults.
This new center will conduct for new studies led by a team of professionals from various colleges of UIC. One focus will be on patients with advanced heart failure, one on oral health problems in terminally ill cancer patients, one on suicide prevention and the fourth on end-of-life complications for patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Catherine Ryan, research assistant, professor of nursing and an expert in critical care, directs the study on advances heart failure. According to Ryan, the long-term prognosis of patients with advanced heart failure remains poor.
She explained, "More than five million people live with advanced heart failure, and accurately predicting the end of the illness trajectory for people with this disease will be extremely beneficial to direct care," and could reduce the annual cost of care for these patients, which is estimated to be $33.2 billion.
The second study on oral health problems will be directed by Dr. Dena Fischer, assistant professor of oral medicine and diagnostic sciences in the UIC College of Dentistry.
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