Grant: Meetings, Planning and Dissemination Grant: PHSI

We are requesting funds to support the undertaking of a one-day meeting entitled: "Developing a Research Agenda for Advance Care Planning in Canada". The meeting will be held in conjunction with the national hospice palliative care meeting in Winnipeg, Manitoba, October 17, 2009. It will bring together key decision-makers, practitioners, and researchers who are either already working advance care planning or are concerned with the current lack of end-of-life care planning, poor decision making, and inadequate quality care at the end of life. As our society ages, these problems will only get worse. The participants at our meeting will discuss the issues and articulate a research agenda for advance care planning in elderly patients and those with advanced disease which will be relevant to policy and practice. Our pre-meeting synthesis activity will identify evidence-based tools that professionals can work with when implementing advance care planning. The two objectives of the meeting are to: -Articulate a research agenda in advance care planning that will be relevant to policy and practice. -Foster opportunities for knowledge exchange and research collaborations regarding tools used by professionals in advance care planning. This meeting is co-sponsored by the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) and the Canadian Researchers at the End of Life Network (CARENET). CHPCA is the national association which provides leadership in hospice palliative care in Canada. CHPCA offers leadership in the pursuit of excellence in care for persons approaching death so that the burdens of suffering, loneliness and grief are lessened. CARENET is a CIHR-funding research team with a focus on improving communication and decision making at the end of life.