Providing care that is consistent with a patient’s values, preferences, and goals is a cornerstone of palliative care, an interdisciplinary patient-centered approach that aims to improve quality of life for persons with advanced illness and their families. Palliative care focuses on several objectives including relief of symptoms and suffering, communication of prognosis and treatment options in the context of patients’ goals, and coordination of care within and across healthcare settings. Palliative care is not synonymous with hospice or end-of-life care. Rather, palliative care addresses the spectrum of care for serious illness from diagnosis through terminal stages of diseases. Moreover, palliative care does not necessarily entail withholding or curbing treatment. Relief of symptoms, enhancing quality of life, and many other specific aspects of goal-concordant care may, in fact, involve optimal medical or surgical treatment of diseases. The expected outcome of integrating palliative care into the management of the patient’s disease is a better quality of life, a realistic understanding of risks and benefits of treatment and interventions, and medical treatment decisions that align with the patient’s goals, preferences, and values.
Many heart, lung, blood, and sleep (HLBS) diseases, including heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, cystic fibrosis, myelodysplastic syndromes, and aplastic anemia are life-limiting, non-curable illnesses. These and other HLBS diseases may benefit from care focused on improvement of symptoms and quality of life, in addition to care focused on slowing or halting progression of diseases. Integration of palliative care into cardiology, pulmonary, hematology, and critical care practice is recommended by multiple professional societies. Additionally, symptoms of HLBS diseases such as cough, shortness of breath, and fatigue may be especially burdensome, even in diseases that are not life-limiting. Research to improve burdensome symptoms has the potential to greatly improve the quality of life for all patients with HLBS diseases, not just those with life-limiting disease.
This Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) encourages research grant applications focused on palliative care in patients with HLBS diseases across the lifespan. Collaboration between HLBS and palliative care researchers is encouraged. Palliative care research studies, including ancillary studies to ongoing clinical research studies, are encouraged.
This notice applies to due dates on or after October 5, 2020 and subsequent receipt dates through July 5, 2023.
NOT-HL-20-737