End-of-life cancer care attracts new funding
Cancer Institute NSW funds new research into care for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
Associate Professor Reema Harrison has been awarded a Cancer Institute NSW Career Development Fellowship to improve end-of-life care for people with cancer who come from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. 
Associate Professor Harrison aims to address deficits in quality end-of-life cancer care for people from CALD backgrounds. More than 70% of adult CALD patients in Australia do not use advanced care planning (ACP) which can improve the quality of life for people near the end-of-life by reducing hospitalisations, intensive care admission, invasive medical procedures close to death and stress and anxiety amongst patients and their families.
Associate Professor Harrison, who is ranked in the top five patient safety experts in Australia according to expertscape.com, believes:
Every person deserves high-quality and safe cancer care at every stage.
“I will harness the experience and expertise of patients and families from CALD backgrounds, and their clinicians, to co-design resources that improve their quality of life and care at the end-of-life.”
Codesign aims to bring together the lived experience of patients and their families, along with professional expertise in order to make joint decisions.
“We need to understand the barriers that currently exist preventing people using ACP, while also identifying interventions to overcome these barriers that will be sustainable for the patients, their families and clinicians.”
Through leading NHMRC, Cancer Australia, Disability Institute and industry grants, Associate Professor Harrison has pioneered an approach to co-design with seldom heard populations such as CALD populations, children and people with intellectual disabilities to improve the quality of their healthcare, with a focus in cancer services.
Hear from people involved in the co-design project here, on ABC News.
Read more about Associate Professor Harrison's research into Healthcare Engagement and Workplace Behaviour
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Centre for Health Systems and Safety Research
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