I decided to do an about face on my research topic. After reading more on how to approach this project, I thought: why not look at what's right under my nose and what is close to my heart? I came to work at VNA due to the wonderful hospice care my own Mother received. Yet, it took my family asking the physician to determine that she was near the end of her life, and then later to get the referral to a quality hospice program. Why is this? How many other patients are told too late or not at all about their terminal diagnosis and what impact does this have on the quality of the remainder of their lives?
With my position in fund development, I've had the wonderful opportunity to meet many people who are family members of previous hospice patients. These people could provide substantial qualitative content to my research. In addition, I've developed a professional relationship with a well known author on the topic, who would most likely grant an interview via email or telephone.
My hope will be that my research will have an impact of reaching more involved in this vital communication and thus, impact the quality of end-of-life experiences for the patients involved.
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