AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: PALLIATIVE CARE REGIONAL FORUMS
Today we are so pleased to announce our partnership with the American Cancer Society, Inc., New England Region (ACS) to work together to increase access to person-centered care for all adults, and to support its mission to improve the quality of life for patients living with cancer.
ACS, in collaboration with Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Comprehensive Cancer Prevention and Control Network has recently begun a series of Palliative Care Regional Forums to improve access to palliative care for all cancer patients. The Forums are being held in seven regions throughout the Commonwealth.
“Over the last ten years, palliative care has been one of the fastest-growing treatments in health care.” says Lisa Leydon, Health Systems Manager, American Cancer Society, Inc. “We believe expanding early access to palliative care services is a critical step to improve the cancer journey for patients and families.”
Palliative care, generally defined as specialized medical care for people living with serious illness, focuses on pain management and relief from symptoms as mechanisms to improve quality of life. “Palliative care treats the whole person beyond the disease, providing patient-centered and family-oriented care that should be available for all seriously ill adults and children from the point of diagnosis, through survivorship, and at the end of life.” says Ms. Leydon. “Palliative care is essentially a partnership formed between the patient, medical specialists, and family.”
Understanding palliative care – what it is, where to find it, and how to pay for it – can sometimes be a daunting challenge for adults and families. Doctors and care providers within any given community can differ on its definition, types of treatments, and how and when to deliver care in hospitals or community care settings. The Regional Forums are intended to bring together multidisciplinary care providers to actively engage in discussions, to share best practices and to identify specific challenges in their regions to build a network of coordinated palliative care services. Following robust discussion, forum members define three major objectives from which they form a Collaborate Work Group to continue discussion and to address solutions. These Regional Forums and Collaborated Work Groups are open to everyone, including care providers, consumers and anyone interested in palliative care.
We are excited to support the American Cancer Society, an Honoring Choices Alliance Partner, in its mission to improve the quality of life for patients living with cancer. Honoring Choices will offer educational materials to help guide care providers in their work with patients and clients as a means to better understand and honor choices for care. Some of the Honoring Choices Partners, who already work collaboratively in Regional Networking Groups, have joined the first forums and work groups to share resources and to help make palliative care available to every resident in the Commonwealth.
More information to come shortly on the Spring 2016 Regional Forums. Click here to read more about the Comprehensive Cancer Prevention and Control Network.
Read more about the American Cancer Society here.