The Pen Bay Waldo Healthcare Foundation recently received a grant to support important conversations between patients and their doctors in the Midcoast region. The “Educating a Community to Talk about End of Life Care” project, funded by the Davis Foundation, will begin in January 2017.
Launching this project expands upon the regional initiative to support the development of palliative care services at Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital.
Project partners Pen Bay Medical Center, Waldo County General Hospital, MaineHealth Care at Home and MaineHealth will work together to implement the initiative across multiple health care and community settings within the Midcoast region. The program will begin with trainings for healthcare providers, nurses and community health and wellness staff on how to initiate conversations with patients around their preferences for end-of-life care.
Several national curriculums will be used in these trainings including Respecting Choices®, the Serious Illness Care Program (developed in collaboration with Atul Gawande, MD, author of Being Mortal, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School) and Vital Talk, an initiative out of the University of Washington, Seattle. These curriculums all share a mission to improve communication between patients and providers.
Lauren Michalakes, MD, medical director of palliative care at Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital is on the national faculty for all three curriculums and said, “I look forward to bringing these tools and resources to local community members and providers. The curriculums will prepare staff with the necessary tools and skills needed to facilitate successful care planning conversations with patients and families living with a serious or life threatening illness.”
For more information on the “Educating a Community to Talk about End of Life Care” project, please contact Sarah Dwelley, palliative care program coordinator at 921-8301.