Hospitals are required to be able to demonstrate quality end of life care. Currently however, there is no standardised framework in place for evaluating the quality of death and dying for advanced cancer patients in acute hospitals.
A new collaborative project led by the Centre for Palliative Care will develop a systematic appraisal process, called QualDeath, to help address this gap.
The QualDeath project is funded by the Western & Central Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service (WCMICS) and involves partners from six sites across Victoria: St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Sunshine Hospital (Western Health), Werribee Mercy Hospital and Royal Melbourne Hospital.
The project is led by Professor Peter Hudson and a team of researchers at the Centre of Palliative Care, including Dr David Marco, and a newly appointed Research Fellow, Dr Hannah Gould.
Dr Gould is a cultural anthropologist whose research is focused on death and discarding in Australian and East Asia. She has a concurrent appointment at The University of Melbourne, working with the DeathTech Research Team.
Dr Gould is passionate about bridging the divide between ‘dying’ and ‘death’, both in scholarship and practice, and is currently the President of the Australian Death Studies Society.
QualDeath will be informed via a review of international best practice evidence arising from the published literature, and by a scoping study of current practices in hospitals in the immediate lead-up and following an expected death of a patient with advanced cancer. Thereafter the QualDeath model will be developed in partnership with multidisciplinary health care professionals and engagement with consumers.
Ultimately, the project will contribute to improving how hospitalised patients and their families experience dying and bereavement.
