Thinking Ahead Study
This 3 year study was funded by the National Institute of Health Research to provide a better understanding of the needs of ethnically diverse patients and their families when they become very ill.
Previous research undertaken by LOROS Hospice and others suggests that patients from ethnic minority communities access end of life care less and later than other sections of the population, and that clinicians may lack confidence in supporting them.
Dr Zoebia Islam presented the findings from the Thinking Ahead study at the University of East Anglia School of Health Sciences. A video of her presentation can be viewed below.
One key finding from our Thinking Ahead study was the importance for people from diverse cultural and faith backgrounds to be understood and respected. Dr Islam talks about this finding in this video.
The findings have been translated into resources to train doctors and nurses in how to support patients more effectively at the end of their lives in line with their religious, spiritual and cultural values.
