Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life

The Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life works to advance the spiritual dimension of care for seriously ill and dying patients and their families.

This interdisciplinary program, established at Duke University in 2000, is led by Richard Payne, an internationally-known expert on care for those at life's end. Payne, previously the head of pain and palliative care service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, joined the institute in 2004.

Based at Duke Divinity School, the Institute on Care at the End of Life brings together scholars from throughout the university and partnering institutions to work in collaboration across broad disciplinary lines.

The institute has established an ambitious agenda. In research, it supports a variety of studies in palliative and end-of-life care. The institute's faculty includes leading researchers in identifying the types of care patients want at the end of life; measuring the quality of life of dying patients; and studying how physicians communicate with patients at the end of life.

In education, institute scholars conduct a range of initiatives spanning the spectrum of end-of-life care, from instruction to medical students in how to care for the dying to divinity school courses that address death and dying from a theological perspective.

In public outreach, the institute has sponsored numerous events offering practical training for caregivers such as clergy, physicians, nurses, social workers and lay volunteers, transmitting to them the latest knowledge and practice in end-of-life care. Such efforts include clinical case conferences, palliative care education retreats, seminars, visiting speakers and continuing education programs.

The institute's programs have provided a national forum on critical issues in end-of-life care. Featuring leading experts, symposia have focused on such subjects as access to care, end-of-life care in the African-American community, end-of-life traditions of the Jewish faith, and care of terminally ill children.

Director:
Richard Payne 919-660-3580

Editorial contact:
Jonathan Goldstein 919-660-3416