SEASIDE, Ca., September 19, 2019 – California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) has received a grant from the Hospice Giving Foundation in the amount of $60,000 to fund a regional palliative care study. The feasibility study, led by CSUMB Department of Nursing chair and associate professor Alyssa Erikson, will plan how best to offer palliative care education in Monterey County.

Increasing educational opportunities in the region will strengthen the capability of healthcare providers by delivering high quality, linguistically and culturally appropriate care to people with serious illness and their families.

Palliative care is delivered by an interdisciplinary team and strives to improve quality of life for those with life-threatening illness, like cancer, heart failure or emphysema. There are many people living with serious illness who can benefit from palliative care but, like most places, Monterey County is limited by the number of trained and knowledgeable providers.

“I’m very grateful that our team received these funds for us to complete a full investigation into what educational model would best serve our community,” said Erikson. “We are very excited to get started on the work and deeply committed to improving the capacity for our community to provide palliative care services.”

The team of researchers is comprised of Central Coast healthcare professionals with a shared desire to expand palliative care services in the region to include: CSUMB Health, Human Services & Public Policy associate professor Vanessa Lopez-Littleton and lecturer Colleen Beye along with Alisha Mann and Dr. Wendell Harry, a palliative care physician at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital and Natividad Medical Center.

Each team member brings a variety of expertise and experience to the project, which includes nursing, medicine, public health and public administration.

“As a rural, mostly Latino community, we want to determine the best way to maximize palliative care services.” said Alisha Mann. “With a rigorous feasibility process, our goal is to put forward a plan that meets the community needs.”

Hospice Giving Foundation is an independent grant-making foundation focused on end-of-life care and preparedness that has proudly awarded over $25 million in grants to local programs dedicated to strengthening and improving hospice and palliative care, and other end-of-life care services, for children and adults.

Community members interested in contributing their perspective to this project should contact Alyssa Erikson.