Our Research Helps to Improve Care for Patients and Their Families
The Hospice & Palliative Care Buffalo research team was established to better understand – and educate – professionals and communities about the effects of palliative and hospice care. Our ongoing projects range from person-centered studies to programmatic studies, which both directly translate into better hospice care and tangible quality-of-life improvements for our patients.
Our research interests include end-of-life experiences, delirium, and other psychosocial interventions that seek to improve the quality of life of the hospice and palliative care population. Among other areas, this work has received international attention through Netflix and public television, as well as featured appearances in TEDx and End Well from our CEO and CMO, Dr. Christopher Kerr, MD, PhD.
We are proud to collaborate in this research with clinicians and academics across the nation, and also partner with local community providers to garner additional insights.
Our Insights Help Us Better Understand the Dying Process
Dr. Kerr, together with his research team, has spent years researching the impact of end-of-life experiences (ELEs) on hospice patients and their families. Findings continue to provide us with powerful insights about the dying process. Our exploration of the nature and impacts of these experiences has also informed the way we directly provide our services, helping to bring dignity and comfort to the dying process for our patients and their caregivers.
Visit DrChristopherKerr.com for more information on end-of-life experiences.
Collaborations and Partnerships
We are always looking for opportunities to collaborate with researchers from diverse disciplines. We believe that research teams should not be isolated as independent silos, but should instead work together to generate high impact research. We have had collaborations with various departments at the University at Buffalo, Daemen College, Canisius College, and community providers. If you’re interested, please contact Pei Grant.
Explore Our Published Research
Many of these studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals, and a few studies have garnered national attention, appearing in The New York Times, HuffPost, Scientific American MIND, and Psychology Today. To learn more about our work, please see the publications section below.
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