St. John Health
Community Health, Grief, Palliative Care
Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Media Contacts: Daniela Scholl, St. John Health, (586) 753-0731
Jon Goldstein, Duke Divinity School, (919) 660-3416

St. John Health (SJH) and the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life have launched a three-year collaborative project to improve access to and quality of palliative and end of life care for all SJH patients.  The project's goal is to educate patient care teams on how to evaluate patients for palliative and end of life needs, and assure that all patients and their families receive compassionate care with attention to their spiritual, psychosocial and clinical needs as they confront advanced illness.

Palliative care addresses management of symptoms such as pain, nausea, and shortness of breath, with an emphasis on quality of life throughout the course of a chronic, debilitating or life threatening illness.  Although all SJH hospitals provide palliative care, St. John Hospital and Medical Center was selected as the pilot site for the project.  Other SJH sites will share in the benefits of the education and training provided and the tools developed.

"St. John Health's partnership with the nationally-recognized Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life is an opportunity to draw on our foundation of treating all patients with compassion and elevate our expertise in palliative care for the benefit of our patients," said Elliot Joseph, president and CEO, St. John Health.  "This program is central to our larger vision to protect the dignity of life throughout the continuum of patient care."

Program objectives for the St. John Health - Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life collaboration include:

• Develop a universal screening tool to help the care team identify the most appropriate care for patients at the end of life. 
• Integrate spiritual care providers into palliative and end of life care services, with attention to patients' diverse cultures and religious traditions.
• Help all who provide patient care to improve their skills, confidence and competency in palliative care.
• Engage local faith communities to increase their awareness of palliative and end of life care resources available to them. 
• Implement a culture change among St. John Health clinicians and administrators that will support and sustain palliative care efforts.  

Each of the objectives developed for the collaborative has an action strategy that measures the objective's impact.  Melanie Merriman, Ph.D., president of Touchtone Consulting, will serve as the evaluation consultant to the project, providing both off and on site guidance in data collection, evaluation design and analysis.  Dr. Merriman will be supported by a St. John Health research nurse.

"The Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life is committed to providing St. John Health leadership, expertise and guidance through our faculty and resources to ensure the success of this collaboration," said Jeanne Twohig, deputy director, Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life.  "We recognize the enormous impact St. John Health can have in shaping the face of palliative and end of life care in faith-based health care institutions."

About St. John Health
St. John Health is the largest provider of inpatient care in Southeast Michigan and one of the largest employers in metro Detroit. St. John Health provides comprehensive prevention, primary care and advanced treatment programs with more than 100 medical centers, and nine hospitals spanning five counties.

About the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life
The Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life works to advance the understanding and application of the spiritual dimension of care for seriously ill and dying patients and their families. This mission is achieved through promoting and conducting research and educational and outreach programs.  The Institute's work is broadly interdisciplinary and inclusive, involving academics and practitioners in fields such as theology, health care, public policy, law and the humanities. Programs, which range in scope from local to international, maintain a focus on the intersection of spirituality and medicine. 

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