About the Foundation for End-of-Life Care
The Need
It is estimated that less than one fourth of the terminally ill patients who could benefit from hospice ever use it. This lack of access denies patients and their families the medical, social and spiritual support necessary for a quality end of life experience. The Foundation for End-of-Life Care, a not-for-profit organization established by VITAS Healthcare Corporation, was created to improve end-of-life care for individual patients and their families, while supporting fundamental societal change.
The Purpose
The Foundation will provide resources to advance the quality of end-of-life care in several ways:
Support of the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life—The Foundation is a founding benefactor of the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life, the nation’s first comprehensive institute for the advancement of research, education and caregiving for those near death.
Research Grants and Partnerships—The Foundation awards grants to fund promising research studies at sites throughout the country, including hospices, teaching hospitals, other providers and academic research centers.
“Special Needs” Grants for Individual Patients and Families - The Foundation makes grants to fund extraordinary expenses that lie outside the realm of hospice care but are critically important to the comfort or peace of mind of patients and their families.
Hospice Grants to Share Best Practices—The Foundation makes grants to hospice providers to facilitate the development and sharing of “best practice” caregiving models and techniques.
Assistance for Hospice Foundation of America Programs—The Foundation assists the Hospice Foundation of America in implementing specific programs, including clergy-to-clergy services, grief counseling activities and the annual National Bereavement Teleconference.
Supporting the Foundation
