The Board of Directors of the Archstone Foundation, a grantmaking foundation committed to preparing society for the growing needs of an aging population, announced the approval of seven grants, totaling $1,289,466, at their September meeting. Four of the seven grants were funded as part of the End-of-Life Initiative, totaling $1,179,466.
At the September meeting, the Board of Directors approved four programs marking the launch of the Foundation's multi-year End-of-Life Initiative. “The ‘end of life' refers to a prolonged, uncertain period of difficulty for many Americans who live the last years of their life with an advanced, chronic illness. Despite changes in how people die, the process of how we care for the dying has not kept pace. We are all stakeholders in making the dying process a journey filled with compassion and caring,” said Joseph F. Prevratil, President and CEO of the Archstone Foundation.
The following grants awarded under the End-of-Life Initiative will provide education and training in palliative care to nurses and support efforts to improve the quality of care in hospitals and long-term care facilities:
- City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA ($216,172): A one-year grant to support promotion of palliative care in California nursing schools by offering two courses of the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) train-the-trainer program.
- San Diego Hospice and Palliative Care, San Diego, CA ($550,000): A three-year grant to support the development and implementation of a palliative care training, mentorship and technical assistance program for long-term care facilities in the State of California.
- University of California, Los Angeles Foundation, Los Angeles, CA ($13,294): A 5-month grant to support the development of a palliative-care program for elderly patients in intensive care units.
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA ($400,000): A three-year grant to support the Palliative Care Leadership Center, a training program for hospitals seeking to implement a palliative care service.
Grants awarded under the Responsive Grantmaking Program include:
- WISE Senior Services, Santa Monica, CA ($50,000): A one-year grant to support the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program.
- Legal Assistance for Seniors, Oakland, CA ($10,000): An 8-month grant to support a two-day legal services provider training on elder and dependent adult abuse.
- National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. ($50,000): A 15-month grant to the Institute of Medicine to support a national consensus study on identifying alternative models of care and future healthcare workforce needs for an aging population.
