“They’re not a disease, they’re a person”

June 1 2019

In exciting news, together with Prof Gregory Crawford, Dr Ann Dadich and the North Adelaide Palliative Care team,  we have received funding from the Hospital Research Foundation to extend the Brilliance project into the acute hospital setting. The news was featured in The Advertiser this week, an Adelaide-based newspaper.

Ms Cathie Jeffs a specialist palliative care nurse and champion of the community Brilliance project will lead the project on the ground at the Lyell Mc Ewin Hospital. The aim of the project is to identify and promote ‘brilliant’ palliative and end of life care in the acute hospital setting, i.e. care that is safe, of high quality and exceeds expectations.

“The project will address the following research questions:
• What is brilliant care from the perspectives of patients, and families requiring palliative care under the care of the general medical service at Lyell McEwin Hospital?
• “What do patients and families with palliative care needs value most while being cared for in an acute hospital?”
• How is brilliant palliative care enacted and what are the conditions that make it most likely in the acute hospital setting?”

A secondary objective is to explore how useful an innovative research technique (video reflexive ethnography) is to gain consumer feedback and identify practice improvements for people who are receiving palliative care in hospital. This research is of significant practical value as it will highlight exceptional care, identify the conditions that can make this more likely in the acute hospital and translate these findings into safety and quality improvement processes. Can’t wait to share the findings!