How research and palliative care practice can successfully interact: an example from a project to develop quality indicators

Aims
With the growth of palliative care, the need to improve care also grows and policy increasingly demands guidelines for quality improvement. In this context the End-of-Life Care Research Group (Ghent University & Vrije Universiteit Brussel) started to develop a set of quality indicators in order to safeguard and monitor the quality of end-of-life care. To be applicable and feasible, the construction of the set asks for an early interaction between practice and research. This presentation illustrates how collaboration between practice and research can successfully be set out for such a research project.

Method and results of the collaboration
Since the start of the project, an interaction between the research group and the Federation of Palliative Care Flanders, the representative organization of palliative care in Flanders, was set out for each phase in the development of the indicators. First, both discussed the study design. Second, the experiences from the practice delivered through the Federation were important to choose the domains for the indicator set. Third, both discussed the outline and content of the expert panels. Finally, the Federation will assist in the operationalization of the indicator set and engage several institutions through the palliative networks to use and test the set to measure quality of palliative care in Flanders.

Conclusion
The development of quality indicators for palliative care cannot be made by researchers in isolation without a close collaboration with the clinical practice in palliative care. It is clear that a two-way interaction between research and practice creates a profitable situation for both parties, advancing the research process and creating contact between research and the basis of palliative care in Flanders. Collaboration between practice and research can ensure that the final instrument is not only strongly evidence based but will be more readily accepted by field workers.