More than 300 psychologists, social workers and spiritual care professionals from throughout the nation have become palliative care advocates thanks to City of Hope’s Division of Nursing Research and Education.
 Shirley Otis-Green (Photo by p.cunningham) |
The division’s Advocating for Clinical Excellence: Transdisciplinary Palliative Care Education Project was funded by the National Cancer Institute through a $1.5 million R25 grant. The project trained palliative care advocates from 216 institutions in 45 states.
Shirley Otis-Green, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., senior research specialist in the Division of Nursing Research and Education, is principal investigator on the five-year project, which ends this summer. The division’s Betty Ferrell, Ph.D., R.N., and Marcia Grant, D.N.Sc., R.N., are co-investigators.
“The project aimed to fundamentally advance the delivery of palliative, end-of-life and bereavement care by enhancing the leadership and advocacy skills of competitively selected system change agents,” Otis-Green said, referring to motivated professionals who had to apply for the program.
Culture and the expressive arts, such as writing, music and visual art, were uniquely integrated into the interactive learning sessions, Otis-Green said.
In late 2010, project participants were invited to return to Pasadena, Calif., where they began, for an innovative reunion conference to reinforce and celebrate their change efforts. Participants from across the nation presented abstracts and posters highlighting their ongoing efforts to improve palliative care. Thirty of these emerging leaders were recognized with cash awards. An upcoming special issue of the OMEGA — Journal of Death and Dying will focus on resulting work.
