The Adult Palliative Care Services Model of Care emphasizes the need for a supportive environment where hospitals, community services, and primary care providers can deliver high-quality palliative care as a normal part of service. At end-of-life, the majority of people prefer to be cared for at home or in hospice, yet hospitals remain the most common place of death. This project aims to promote collaboration between the National Ambulance Service (NAS), General Practitioners (GPs), Primary Care, and Specialist Palliative Care (SPC) services in order to to provide more care in the community, closer to patients’ homes, rather than within acute hospital settings.
The ENCIRCLE PC research project involves the implementation of a Future Care Plan (FCP) form for people at end of life, alongside an educational intervention for relevant healthcare professionals across 3 CHO areas.
UCC researchers are conducting an evaluation of the above intervention, and for this will conduct a prospective study and questionnaires with key stakeholders. The goal is to determine whether the FCP ensures that patient preferences for end-of-life care are followed during emergency (112/999) calls or out-of-hours palliative care services. Within the questionnaires there will be anonymised open text data which could provide invaluable insights into care planning preferences, and if successful as a HRB Summer Scholar I would be provided with the supervision and skills to work on this element. I would be afforded time to immerse myself in the empirical literature and policy context of end of life care. I will work alongside the PI to draft a project report and get the opportunity to enhance my academic writing. I will conduct training on research integrity (epigium) and I will undergo training on Reflexive Thematic Analysis.