Innovations in End-of-Life Care
an international journal of leaders in end-of-life care

Population-based Palliative Care Research Network (PoPCRN)
Jean S. Kutner, MD, MSPH, Director
General Internal Medicine, Box B180
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
4200 East 9th Avenue
Denver, Colorado 80262
www.uchsc.edu/popcrn/

Based in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, the Population-based Palliative Care Research Network (PoPCRN) conducts rigorous end-of-life research in settings where palliative care is provided. To date, more than 106 palliative care/hospice organizations in 21 states and Canada have expressed interest in PoPCRN’s eleven network-based studies (three of which are currently in progress).

These study ideas originate from the participating organizations and have covered such areas as symptom prevalence and severity, psychosocial and spiritual issues, bereavement models, the prevalence of confusion and delirium in hospice patients, among other topics. Each participating organization uses standardized data collection procedures and allows collected data to be analyzed and distributed in ways consistent with confidentiality requirements. An advisory board of representatives from participating sites and senior research personnel at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center provide guidance regarding study design, implementation, and data interpretation. The results of these studies are initially disseminated to the participating sites for their own quality improvement activities. Aggregate reports are later distributed through various channels, including the PoPCRN quarterly newsletter, peer-reviewed literature, and the network’s website www.uchsc.edu/popcrn/index.htm.

The PoPCRN approach to improving end-of-life care is innovative in that it represents a spectrum of models in diverse settings. The program’s wide collaborative reach ensures that the issues being studied are clinically relevant and that the studies themselves are rigorous and high quality. PoPCRN represents varied interests and areas of expertise that lend themselves to innovative approaches to conducting research. This network could potentially serve as an ongoing "laboratory" for addressing key issues in the care of dying people and those around them.

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