Jennifer Tjia
Discipline: Physician
Funding awarded to: University of Massachusetts, Worcester, Massachusetts
COmmunity-ACademic-Health Systems (COACH) Partnership for Palliative Care Transformation
The goal of the COACH Project is to lead a community-engaged process of health system culture change in advance care planning. The project will build on existing community and academic partnerships targeting seriously ill older adults. COACH will extend the impact of existing partnerships with local elder service organizations to inform the health system’s approach to advance care planning, with specific attention to public health education, messaging, and provider training.
Palliative medicine is gaining a better understanding of what interventions improve outcomes for patients with serious illness. Integrating these practices into individual health care systems nationwide remains a significant challenge. Local adaptation, ownership, and support are essential for successful evidence-based practice change. My vision for the field of palliative care is to involve patients, community members, healthcare providers, and leaders of health care delivery systems as partners in the process of improving patient-centered care delivery.