AIIHPC & ICS award inaugural Research Fellowship in Palliative Care

Researchers to evaluate community based model of palliative care  A research project to evaluate a volunteer led, community based model of palliative care has been awarded €161,000 (£126,000).  The Postdoctoral Fellowship Award has been made jointly by the All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) and the Irish Cancer Society. The award has been made to Dr Kathleen McLoughlin, co-ordinator of Milford Care Centre’s Compassionate Communities Project in Limerick.   The funding will enable Milford Care Centre’s Good Neighbour Partnership, a model of care and support for adults with advanced life limiting illness, to be evaluated by Maynooth University.  The Good Neighbour Partnership is an innovative model of volunteer-led, practical and social support for people living at home in their last year of life. The model enables people living with unmet social and practical needs at home to make links with people living in their community, who would like to help with activities such as shopping, collecting a prescription, lighting the fire, or sitting with a person who needs a break. The Fellowship will be mentored by Senior Lecturer at the Department of Psychology at Maynooth University, Dr. Sinead McGilloway and the research team includes national and international academics and practitioners who work in the field of public health, community development and palliative care.  Dr. Kathleen McLoughlin explained: “For most people, home is the preferred place of care and death. However, people who are dying and their families can experience great isolation and can feel shut out from their communities.”  Dr McGilloway added: “Evidence suggests that recognising the potential of informal support networks could help to ‘naturalise’ dying, offer better support to the person and their family and enable the choice to die at home.” AIIHPC Head of Research, Dr. Sonja McIlfatrick, highlighted the importance of this partnership with the Irish Cancer Society for progressing palliative care research both in Ireland and elsewhere: “This research will provide very useful information on how we could augment existing palliative and primary care services, to provide additional social and practical support to people living in the community in their last year of life.” Irish Cancer Society Chief Executive John McCormack said: “We are delighted that this team has been awarded this Fellowship. We look forward to this opportunity to learn how we can ensure better experiences for patients and their families.”