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Office
of News and Information
October 18, 2004 |
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Nursing Surveys Area Physicians Concerning End of Life Care Decision The UT Tyler College of Nursing and Health Sciences is gathering data from East Texas physicians for a research study examining physicians’ roles in and attitudes regarding end of life care decisions, Dr. Gloria Duke, principle investigator and UT Tyler associate dean for research and outreach, announced. “Needed areas for improvement regarding end of life care decision making on the part of physicians have been noted by multi-disciplinary health care team members in the East Texas area. Questionnaires were distributed about three weeks ago to all East Texas area physicians. They were asked to complete a questionnaire that explores their professional and personal end of life care attitudes and actual practices, as well as their sense of spirituality,” Dr. Duke said. This study is very similar to one conducted at Stanford University a few years ago. It is anticipated that this study will provide a foundation for examining interventions for facilitating more effective end of life care decision making, both on the part of the physician, and ultimately, on the part of other health care team members, and the individuals themselves, she added. The study is funded by a grant of approximately $12,000 awarded to the East Texas Partnership for End of Life Care in Tyler and Longview, with support monies going to UT Tyler College of Nursing to conduct the study. Participating research team members are representative of Blood and Cancer Center of East Texas, East Texas Medical Center, Hospice of East Texas, HeartsWay Hospice and The University of Texas Health Center at Tyler. The grantors include Rallying Points/Last Acts, an organization sponsored by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation; American Cancer Society, Austin; and Texas Partnership for End of Life Care, Austin. The National Bar Association has designated Oct. 17-23 as National Health Care Decisions Week, designed to raise public awareness of the need to plan for health decisions at the end of life. Since a high response rate of questionnaires is desirable for this project, Dr. Duke urges physicians to complete their surveys and return them at their earliest convenience. For more information or if additional questionnaires are needed, please contact Dr. Duke at 903-566-7023.
Contact person: Emily Battle, (903) 565-5604
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