International Observatory on End of Life Care: Research

The International Observatory on End of Life Care (IOELC) is one of the leading international academic centres in End of Life Studies and plays a major role in delivering research that influences the strategic direction of service development nationally and internationally. The focus of our research is to understand the organisational models of care, and their delivery in different countries, health and economic systems and physical environments. Improving access to adequate pain control, symptom relief and psychological support to patients and bereavement support to families is a major public health challenge. The IOELC has had a considerable impact on the development of palliative care, by undertaking research and evaluations of services at a local, national and international level.

Our research and scholarship is grouped into four themes of activity, as defined using the following diagram:

METHODOLOGY

RESEARCHING THE NEEDS OF OLDER PEOPLE

EVALUATING SERVICE MODELS

SYMPTOM MANAGEMENT