Palliative Care
Access and Outcomes

A Cluster Randomized Trial of a Primary Palliative Care Intervention (CONNECT) for Patients with Advanced Cancer

Dr. Schenker and her team are currently analyzing data from this cluster randomized trial of an oncology nurse-led primary palliative care intervention, which enrolled 672 patients with advanced solid-tumor cancers and their 441 caregivers across 17 UPMC community oncology practices. (Funding Source: NIH/NCI Grant R01CA197103) Project-related publications Effect of an Oncology Nurse–Led Primary Palliative Care … Read more

A Mobile Sensing System to Monitor Symptoms During Chemotherapy

Symptoms during cancer treatment are common, compromise patient quality of life and ability to tolerate treatment, and often go undetected at clinic visits. This project combines smartphone and wearable sensor data with machine learning to remotely monitor symptoms during chemotherapy and to develop a system that automatically recommends patient-provider contact when severe symptoms are detected. … Read more

Description and Outcomes of an Innovative Concurrent Hospice-Dialysis Program

A Concurrent Hospice and Dialysis Program was created by Dr. Schell and colleagues, where patients could obtain palliative dialysis alongside hospice services. The program aims to enhance access to quality end-of-life care and the experiences of patients, caregivers, and clinicians. (Funding Source: Palliative Care Research Cooperative Group)

Developing a Behavioral Intervention to Improve Coping Among Family Caregivers of Children with Medical Complexity (CMC)

In this pilot study, Dr. Yu used qualitative and human-centered design methodology to develop a behavioral intervention that improves CMC caregivers’ ability to cope with stress. The study characterized the experiences of caregivers of CMC in coping with stress, and in order to develop and refine a behavioral intervention to improve CMC caregivers’ coping. This … Read more

Impact of Lifetime Stress, Racism & Neighborhood Deprivation on Outcomes of NSCLC

In this mixed methods approach, Dr. Rosenzweig and her team quantify how social, cultural and physical factors (including race, racism, poverty, trauma and neighborhood deprivation) comprising allostatic load influences subsequent disease outcomes directly, or are moderated through patient physical, emotional and financial distress. This examination provides risk metrics and patient voice for the creation and … Read more

Measuring Quality of Life in Prospective Deprescribing Studies 

Outcomes important to patients, such as quality of life (QoL), have been highlighted as a critical component of studies examining the effectiveness of deprescribing interventions, yet are rarely measured due to practical concerns. The aim of this pilot study is to conduct a preliminary assessment of the feasibility of evaluating QoL in prospective deprescribing studies, … Read more

Palliative Care Technological Extension and Assistance in the Community for Healthcare Outcomes in Western PA (Pal-TEACH)

Pal-TEACH is a project designed to improve access to palliative care using technology. The project began at McKeesport Medical Oncology, where Dr. Schenker piloted telemedicine and provided palliative care visits to high-risk patients. Currently, the project is at its second clinic, New Castle Medical Oncology, testing an e-consult model to address the unique palliative care … Read more

Randomized Trial of a Scalable, Interactive Tool to Support Surrogate Decision-Makers of Elderly Critically Ill Patients

The goal of this randomized control trial, led by Dr. Douglas White, is to conduct an appropriately powered randomized clinical trial of the Family Support Tool (FST) intervention among the surrogates of critically ill older adults to determine the effects of the FST on patients’ clinical outcomes, surrogates’ psychological outcomes, measures of decision quality, and … Read more