Researchers and clinicians in palliative care from around NSW and ACT came together in May at the Acute Care Forum to discuss opportunities for research to improve palliative care in hospitals. The Forum was held by the New South Wales Palliative Care Research group IMPACCT:NSW to showcase current research and start a conversation on the wider translation of research into practice.
Professor Meera Agar, Chair of IMPACCT:NSW, says that the Forum aimed to engage palliative care researchers and clinicians to combine their interest, expertise and vision.
“We sought to facilitate discussion about local research and evidence being developed in this area, and task participants to consider how we can best accelerate translation into practice to address knowledge gaps,” said Professor Agar.
NSW Palliative Care Services nominated clinical staff to deliver short presentations of their research addressing palliative care in acute care, followed by an interdisciplinary panel with key stakeholders in palliative care.
“It was hugely valuable to hear about a lot of other clinical innovations underway being trialled to address current gaps in care and/or service delivery,” recalls PhD student Claudia Virdun, who presented her research on utilising patient and family identified areas of importance as the foundation to make change happen in end-of-life care in hospitals.
A key theme that emerged during the panel discussion was the importance of advocacy for palliative care in the acute setting.
Professor Agar added, “It’s critical for this advocacy to be support by published research so that we can learn from previous successes and build innovation.”
Working collaboratively across Local Health Districts was also seen as a priority, as was engagement with clinical specialties outside palliative care. The forum highlighted the strong synergy between current activity in NSW and ACT, and the potential for more impact through consolidated research.
Panel member and Service Director of Palliative Care in South Western Sydney Janeane Harlum noted “there’s a lot of crossover between projects and models. That’s where we need to work towards how we can translate those across many facilities to test, rather than just in one spot.”
Fellow panel member and CEO of Palliative Care Australia Liz Callaghan confirmed “there is a definitely a recognition that we need to work together to do something about palliative care at a federal level and at a state and territory level.
“In terms of policy development, there’s a lot of talk and a lot of interest in co-design now. I think that’s exciting.”
Forum attendees hoped to extend the current network to facilitate ongoing communication and collaboration across key areas in research, policy and practice. Moving forward, the IMPACCT Research Centre at UTS will exist as a focal point to bring together this interdisciplinary research that aims to optimise the health and wellbeing of individuals living with life-limiting illnesses and their families.
IMPACCT values capacity and collaboration through active engagement of clinicians in the development, dissemination and implementation of best evidence. To maintain momentum to achieve these goals, the IMPACCT team aims to support researchers in finding wider audience for their work through presentation and publication, and will work collaboratively to advocate for the policy messages that come out this work.
If you are interested in being part of this network through your interest in acute palliative care please contact: meera.agar@uts.edu.au.