Moving Palliative and End-of-life Care Forward

May 17-21, 2010
Tory Building TB 95
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Wendy Duggleby, RN, PhD

Professor and Endowed Nursing Research Chair in Aging and Quality of Life, at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton.

Her areas of research include gero-oncology, psychsocial oncology, family caregivers, palliative and end-of-life care. The goal of this research is to enhance quality of life for older adults and their families, with a program of research entitled “Living with Hope” which includes research studies of hope for persons with advanced cancer, family caregivers and health care providers. This program of research has received funding from local, provincial and national grants. Three film documentaries of these studies have been produced. The film entitled: “living with hope” has received 2 international awards. These films and abstracts of the hope studies can be viewed on the website: www.nurs.ualberta.ca/livingwithhope.

Current funded research includes the development of psychosocial supportive interventions for rural older women caregivers, male spouses of women with breast cancer and a system navigation tool for rural older palliative care patients and their families. These are in different stages of development and testing. The interventions were developed from qualitative data and pilot tested using mixed method approaches. This research is translational so that it can inform nursing research, practice and policy. The overall goal of the Nursing Research Chair in Aging and Quality of Life is to enhance quality of life of older adults through clinical innovative translational research. This will be achieved by developing, advancing and sustaining trans-disciplinary collaborative programs of nationally funded research in aging and quality of life that will inform nursing practice, policy and education and to position the Faculty of Nursing University of Alberta as a national research leader in this area.

Topic:

• A report of a nearly complete 5-year investigation on the System Navigation Tool (a tool for families and older terminally-ill persons to help them as they live through changes near the end of life).