Meaningful networking: strengthening care for palliative patients and their loved ones
- Period: June 2024 – May 2027
- Status: ongoing
The final stage of life raises existential questions for many patients and their loved ones: how to deal with suffering? How to prepare for death? How to say goodbye to my loved one? People often find their own ways of dealing with these existential questions, but sometimes extra support is needed. This support can be provided in various ways: through welfare or volunteer initiatives, through religious organisations such as churches, through extra attention from healthcare providers already involved, or through specialist support from spiritual counsellors.
However, this necessary care for meaning often does not reach patients and their loved ones. This has two important reasons. Firstly, the expertise of care providers in the area of care for meaning is still insufficient, as a result of which life questions are not recognised and addressed; and secondly, the supporting initiatives are not aware of each other’s existence. In this project, we will address these two reasons in the Haaglanden and Westland-Schieland-Delfland (WSD) regions.
Researcher(s)
- Annelieke Damen (project leader)
Partners
- Centrum voor Levensvragen Haagsche Zin
- Zorgorganisatie Eerste Lijn
- ZonMW – programma Versterking regionale en lokale samenwerking voor mensen in de laatste levensfase en hun naasten