Being diagnosed and experiencing a life-limiting illness, or caring for a loved one in that situation, can have wide ranging impacts on patients and carers’ physical and mental health, their ability to function on a day-to-day basis, and their overall quality of life.
The Centre for Palliative Care’s Psychosocial Research Program aims to improve the overall quality of life of palliative care patients, and their informal caregivers and family, by developing and testing interventions that address their psychological and social needs.
More specifically, this research focuses on: anxiety; depression; distress; physical symptom burden, such as pain or breathlessness; financial hardship; poor social support; and, existential/spiritual needs.