Building a Field: The Atlantic Philanthropies’ Investment in Palliative Care

This study captures the impact and lessons of Atlantic’s €58 million investment to help build the field of palliative care. It offers insights into what it takes to develop a community of organizations and individuals working towards a common goal using a shared body of knowledge, approaches, and practices.

From 2004 to 2013, Atlantic’s palliative care funding supported national and local service organizations, evidence-based programs, research, and leadership and network development in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the United States, Viet Nam, and the United Kingdom.

The report found that Atlantic’s support over the years helped:

• Establish a strong community of researchers working on new aspects of palliative and end-of-life care
• Develop “Quality of Standards for End-of-Life Care in Hospitals,” making Ireland the first country in the European Union to produce national standards
• Bolster the number of influential and organizational leaders in key segments of the field including researchers, advocates, and practitioners
• Inform policy and strategy for palliative care so that it increasingly reflected research knowledge and standards of practice
• Lead to wide agreement about the goal of the field: to increase access of high-quality palliative care. Members of the field can easily and consistently articulate the goals and core elements of the field.

The report is complemented by five in-depth reports at different aspects of Atlantic’s investments.

Atlantic commissioned this report.

> Read the report

Related Reports:

• Economics of Palliative Care: Evidence and Impact from Four Recent Studies
• Building Palliative Care: The Cicely Saunders Institute Journey
• Report for The Atlantic Philanthropies Regarding the International Dimension of the Palliative Medicine Fellowship Programme
• Medical Leadership in Palliative Care: A One-Day Seminar
• The Development of Palliative Care in the U.S.