UCLA receives $8.4-million award to improve advance care planning

A UCLA-led team has received a five-year, $8.4-million award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to develop effective approaches to improve advance care planning for seriously ill patients treated in primary care clinics.The award, one of seven granted nationally by the research institute, an independent nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, is intended to fund a research project that addresses the needs of both patients and caregivers.UCLADr. Neil WengerUCLA, in collaboration with UC San Francisco and UC Irvine, will compare three planning approaches that could be used in primary care clinics among people with advanced cancer, heart failure and lung disease, said  Dr. Neil Wenger, the project ’s principal investigator. The aim is to determine which approach, or approaches, lead the patient to complete an advance directive, a legal document that describes the patient’s wishes for end-of-life care.Advance care planning is a process involving patients, families and clinicians to foster understanding about illness and prognosis. Such planning can help clarify treatment preferences, identify a surrogate and develop goals for care during a serious illness and near the end of life.One alternative approach to advance care planning that will be tested grew out of the UCLA Advance Care Planning and Services initiative led by Wenger and  Dr. Anne Walling, co-leader of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research project, working closely with Dr. Sam Skootsky, chie...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news