The Division of Palliative Care is actively engaged in clinical research and quality improvement initiatives aimed at expanding access to high-quality, goal-concordant care across diverse patient populations.
Current efforts include a quality improvement project focused on implementing early palliative care consultation for patients undergoing liver transplant evaluation. This initiative seeks to integrate palliative medicine earlier in the transplant continuum to support complex symptom management, advance care planning, psychosocial support, and informed decision-making for patients and families navigating advanced liver disease and transplant candidacy.
The division is also developing an educational program for Spanish medical interpreters centered on palliative care and hospice communication. Recognizing the critical role interpreters play in serious illness conversations, this program is designed to enhance understanding of palliative and hospice terminology, communication strategies, cultural considerations and the nuances of goals-of-care discussions. Through these initiatives, the division aims to improve interdisciplinary collaboration, health equity, communication quality and patient-centered outcomes while contributing to the growing body of evidence supporting innovative models of palliative care delivery.