Co-developing research priorities for improving palliative care for patients with advanced disease who also experience structural inequities.

Despite experiencing much higher death rates, people living with structural inequities are not adequately served by the current healthcare system, including by palliative care services. As a key provider of healthcare to people living in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES), Providence Healthcare’s (PHC) Division of Palliative Care is establishing a research program for equity informed palliative care. The knowledge gained by this program will allow PHC to improve access to and quality of palliative care for patients with advanced disease who also experience structural inequities.

To allow this research program to be truly patient centred, and ensure the experiences and perspectives of all relevant patient populations are prioritised, we will co-develop the research priorities with:
– people with lived experience of palliative care for people experiencing structural inequities (such as family/friend caregivers),
– people experiencing structural inequities who may need palliative care in the future,
– representatives from community-based organisations serving this population, and
– members of the healthcare system.