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

A.  Tools Related to this Issue’s Contributors:

From Franciscan Health System West

Opening a Clinic Checklist
This tool is excerpted from Improving Care Through the End Of Life Training Manual authored by featured innovator Georgeanne Trandum (Franciscan Health System, ©2000). For further information about the training manual and tools to start an Improving Care Through the End of Life program in your own clinic, please contact Georganne Trandum at gtrandum@wolfenet.com or georgannetrandum@chiwest.com.

B.  Websites related to this issue's contributors:

1. Center to Improve Care of the Dying(CICD)
   http://www.medicaring.org/
   RAND Health in collaboration with Americans for Better Care of the Dying (ABCD) and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement sponsor this website. The MediCaring concept derives from the work of Dr. Joanne Lynn and others on a feasibility study to develop an alternative medical benefit that emphasizes comprehensive, supportive, home-based care for individuals enrolled in Medicare.
2. Centre for Bioethics at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal
   http://www.ircm.qc.ca/bioethique/english/index.html
   The Centre for Bioethics exists to anticipate, identify, analyze, and resolve ethical issues arising in the organization and delivery of health care, in clinical practice, and in the design and conduct of biomedical research. David J. Roy has directed the Centre since its inception in 1976. Dr. Neil MacDonald directs the Cancer Ethics Program at the Centre.
3. Education for Physicians on End-of-Life Care (EPEC)
   http://www.ama-assn.org/ethic/epec
   EPEC is a project of the American Medical Association's Institute for Ethics and is supported by a grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This initiative is designed to educate all U.S. physicians on the essential clinical competencies required to provide quality end-of-life care. The website includes resources and information about the educational modules.
4. Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
   http://www.ihi.org/
   IHI is a Boston-based, independent, non-profit organization working since 1991 to accelerate improvement in health care systems in the United States, Canada, and Europe by fostering collaboration, rather than competition, among health care organizations. IHI sponsors collaboratives on a variety of topics in health. Dr. Joanne Lynn chaired the "Improving Care at the End of Life" Collaborative in 1997, in which featured innovators Dr. Mimi Pattison and Ms. Georganne Trandum participated to design the Improving Care Through the End of Life program.

C.  Other relevant websites:

1. Edmonton Palliative Care Program
   http://www.palliative.org/
   The Division of Palliative Medicine, Department of Oncology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada and The Edmonton Regional Palliative Care Program host this palliative care site for both professional and non-professional audiences. The purpose of the site is to acquaint the visitor with the basic philosophy of palliative care and its workings in large or small centers. Content includes clinical information, patient assessment tools, cancer material, and links to related resources.
2. End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC)
   http://www.aacn.nche.edu/elnec
   A comprehensive, national education project to improve end-of-life care by nurses. ELNEC is a partnership of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) and the Los Angeles based City of Hope Cancer Center, supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
3. End-of-Life Physician Education Resource Center (EPERC)
   http://www.eperc.mcw.edu/
   The purpose of EPERC is to assist physician educators and others in locating high-quality, peer-reviewed training materials. This website supports the identification and dissemination of information on end-of-life training materials, publications, conferences, and other opportunities. EPERC is supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and located at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
4. On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying
   http://www.pbs.org/wnet/onourownterms/
   In a four-part, six-hour series, Bill Moyers crosses the country from hospitals to hospices to homes to capture stories and candid conversations from multiple perspectives on this topic. The series was aired on September 10 through Wednesday, September 13. The website features end-of-life care resources and community action plans as well as providing readers with the tools to engage in an ongoing dialogue about facing the end of life. Viewers can order videotapes of the series from the website.
5. Partnership for Caring: America's Voices for the Dying
   http://www.partnershipforcaring.org
   Formerly "Choice in Dying," this is a national non-profit organization devoted to raising consumer expectations and demand for excellent end-of-life care. The site offers resources for talking about end-of-life choices, the process of health care agency and state-specific advance directives.
6. Dr. Joan Teno's Tool Kit of Instruments to Measure End of Life care (TIME)
   http://www.chcr.brown.edu/pcoc/toolkit.htm
   A bibliography of instruments to measure the quality of care and quality of life for dying patients and their families. Literature review on the topic of "continuity of care" available at http://www.chcr.brown.edu/pcoc/Contin.htm