Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients (adults and children) and their families who are facing problems associated with life limiting conditions. With an ageing population and people living longer with serious illness, the predicted growth for palliative care on the island is 75% in Ireland by 2046 and 31% in Northern Ireland by 2040. In Ireland, the Department of Health is to launch a new Palliative Care Policy for Adults that is expected to include the need to develop further academic-clinical research capacity for high quality, safe and ethical care. In Northern Ireland, the Regional Palliative Care in Partnership priorities are underpinned by the need for research to support evidence-based care.
The All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) Palliative Care Research Network (PCRN) propose to meet this demand and address priorities with a programme to:
Strengthen and expand collaboration with knowledge users in PCRN and Early Career Researcher Forum (ECRF) focus areas through research Special Interest Groups and introduction of new PCRN/ECRF members.
Create an academic-clinical environment to foster innovation with health and social care professionals through a Community of Practice for Clinical Site Research to support clinical-academic multi-site studies.
Develop palliative care researchers and support career paths through an ECRF Bursary and ECRF/PCRN Fellowship Programme to increase cross-site, cross-border, and international collaborations.
Involve people with life-limiting conditions, family carers, and communities across research cycle and evaluate the impact through a PPI Impact Evaluation Framework.
Maximise research impact on practice and policy through a Knowledge Translation Programme involving all stakeholders.
This innovative programme will develop the PCRN by facilitating critical palliative care research to meet the needs of people with life-limiting conditions and support the implementation of national strategies on our shared island.