Skip to main content

Aging Palliative Care

Caring for People with Dignity

Republic of Ireland | Northern Ireland | United States | Viet Nam | 2004 - 2014

Palliative and hospice care provide enormous comfort to those near the end of their lives, can make life better for the chronically ill and eases burdens on families and caregivers. But the painful reality is that this care is not nearly as available as it should be, a condition that Atlantic has worked to remedy in a number of countries for many years. Grants made in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the United States and Viet Nam, supported efforts to train care specialists, create new care facilities and to raise awareness about the need for quality palliative care services.

Watch: The Palliative Hub serves up information and resources about palliative care on the island of Ireland.

What We Learned From This Work

  1. Outside and comprehensive investment can spur government and the social sector to turn unfulfilled policies into new ways of providing care that make a real difference in the quality of life of people.

  2. It is important to show how palliative care can reduce the cost of other health services as a way to attract greater public and private investment.

  3. In funding an underdeveloped field, it is vital to take into account the state of practice and what's necessary to bring it to the next level. For example, some regions needed funding to train medical staff, others needed assistance in creating research and still others required different models of care.

An Injection of Compassion

Across the globe, Atlantic grantees have demonstrated new and better ways to serve those who need palliative care.

Creating Standards

Atlantic’s support for the Irish Hospice Foundation resulted in the production of “Quality Standards for End-of-Life Care in Hospitals,” a first for the European Union.

Building Capacity

As part of its overall investments, Atlantic underwrote new palliative care training programs and supported pilot efforts to model home-based care in the United States, Viet Nam and across the island of Ireland.

Thinking Differently

To provide better palliative care at lower cost, an Atlantic-supported program in the U.S. sent teams of physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains and other workers to patients’ homes after being discharged.

Summaries of Case Studies, Evaluations & Reports

You Might Also Be Interested In