Hospice Giving Foundation Gives $60k to Professor at CSUMB for End-Of-Life Care
A palliative care research proposal led by a professor at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) has received a grant of $60,000 from Hospice Giving Foundation, an independent grant-making foundation focused on end-of-life care and preparedness.
CSUMB is a Campus Partner of the CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care.
Since 1997, Hospice Giving Foundation has proudly awarded over $25 million in grants to regional programs dedicated to strengthening and improving hospice and palliative care, and other end-of-life care services, for children and adults.
The grant will fully fund a feasibility study to plan how best to offer palliative care education in Monterey County to strengthen the capability of healthcare providers delivering high quality, linguistically and culturally appropriate care to people with serious illness and their families.
Working to Expand Access to Palliative Care
“I’m very grateful that our team received these funds for us to complete a full investigation into what educational model would best serve our community,” said Alyssa Erikson, RN, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Nursing at CSUMB, and the Faculty Director of the CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care at CSUMB.
“There are many people who can benefit from palliative care but, like most places, we are limited by the number of trained and knowledgeable providers,” she said.
The team hopes its work will lead to expanding palliative care expertise, building awareness, and improving access to palliative care for the region’s diverse population, Dr. Erickson added.
Collaborating Through a Shared Mission
In addition to Dr. Erikson, the project team comprises Vanessa Littleton-Lopez, RN, MPA, PhD and Associate Professor in the Health, Human Services and Public Policy Department; Alisha Mann, MPH; Colleen Beye, MPA; and Wendell Harry, MD a palliative care physician at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital and Natividad Medical Center.
The team came together from a shared desire to expand palliative care services in the Central Coast region.
“We each bring a variety of expertise and experience to this project,” stated Dr. Erikson. “We are very excited to get started on the work and deeply committed to improving the capacity for our community to provide palliative care services.”
Becoming a Campus Partner
The project is emblematic of the mission of the CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care, a national leader in palliative care training and education, and its Campus Partners. Campus Partners are committed to building community awareness about palliative care and educating future healthcare professionals to meet the growing demand for palliative care fueled by our aging population.
Benefits of being a Campus Partner include assistance with grant-writing resources, marketing support for palliative care programs, a palliative care curriculum toolkit, and more. For information on becoming a Campus Partner, click here.
