6th July 2011 PRESS RELEASE
St Catherine’s Celebrates Hospice-Led Research
St Catherine’s Hospice, Preston, will be celebrating the work of the first network of ‘research active hospices’ in the UK with a special event on September 15th 2011; Hospice Research: Achievements, Challenges and the Future.
To book your place or for more information call 01772 629171 or email education@stcatherines.co.uk . Early bird rate is £60 before 31st July 2011, £90 from 1st August 2011.
The programme will highlight a variety of leading Hospice research projects as well as taking a look at how Hospices, Universities and Research Networks can work together in the future to ensure that an ever growing population of palliative care patients has the same access to research as other NHS patients.
Three North West Hospices with funding support from the Lancashire and Cumbria Comprehensive Local Research Network set up and ran a number of clinical studies which covered a diverse range of symptoms, including breathlessness and pain in its many guises. Additionally, two of the Hospices took part in a study looking at prognostic indicators for cancer patients. Historically, Hospices have been overlooked when it comes to research due to the complexities of setting up clinical studies in a non-NHS setting. The conference will explore how the research teams at St Catherine’s, St John’s and Trinity Hospices in the North West were able to overcome these barriers through an innovative partnership and by building relations with their local NHS R&D departments.
St Catherine’s Hospice Medical Director and Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Alison Parr says “Hospice patients, their carers and the staff who care for them deserve the same access to participation in research studies as is available in other specialities and settings. Participation may prove therapeutic in it’s own right for some patients, providing them with a sense of worth at a time when they are often becoming less able to participate in other activities, as well as opening up opportunities for interventions which they may otherwise not have access to, but which might improve quality of life. The studies presented at the conference clearly demonstrate the value of research in a Hospice setting.”
The conference programme will include studies looking at the use of blood transfusions in palliative care, the barriers to implementing a home death from a family perspective and patient/carers’ views of quality palliative and supportive district nursing care. SPR in Palliative Medicine, Claire Capewell, will present the results of her feasibility study looking at the use of a DVD based educational intervention for palliative care patients with cancer pain. A recent systematic review demonstrated cancer pain prevalence of up to 75% in advanced disease and that almost one in two patients are under treated. Moreover, previous studies have shown that patients rate concerns about the use of strong opioid analgesia as the most important barrier to good pain control, followed by fear of adverse effects. Poorer attitudes and knowledge are associated with a reluctance to commence opioids, reduced medication adherence and higher pain intensity. There is a clear need for a brief, cost-effective educational intervention that can result in significant benefits in a short period of time. This study demonstrated that a DVD based educational intervention was acceptable to palliative care patients and suggested that this type of approach may be of benefit to them.
Finally, the conference will take a look at how universities and networks can build lasting links with Hospices to ensure high quality research in palliative care continues.
St Catherine’s Hospice www.stcatherines.co.uk
St Catherine’s Hospice has been treating patients for over 25 years and primarily serves the area of Chorley, Longridge, Preston and South Ribble.
St Catherine’s Hospice is a leader in End Of Life and Palliative Care – this means that we aim to improve the quality of life of people with life limiting conditions. Palliative Care is a form of medical treatment that reduces the severity of disease-related symptoms but it does not halt, delay or reverse the progression of the disease or provide a cure.
It costs over £4.6 million per year to run the hospice and just 28% of that is funded by the NHS.
Income is generated through:
High profile events such as Symphony At The Tower, Yellow Day and The Moonlight Walk
Our eleven shops across the region
Our Lottery
Large raffles such as the Hospice Car
In memory and general donations
Gifts in wills (these funded 1 in 5 of our patients last year)
Contact Details
Lynn Kelly 01772 629171
Lynn.kelly@stcatherines.co.uk
