Since 2011, AIIHPC has been developing collaborative partnerships to address the need for research that improves the quality of life for people with life limiting conditions and their family carers on the island of Ireland.

During this time we have been working with researchers, clinicians, funding agencies, hospice and palliative care providers, government bodies and people with life limiting conditions and their family carers to ensure that research is relevant, changes practice through education and impacts policy.

In 2012 we created the Palliative Care Research Network (PCRN) with support from the Health Research Board (HRB) in Ireland and the Health and Social Care R&D, Public Health Agency (HSC R&D, PHA) in Northern Ireland. This network includes leading researchers from our partner organisations who focus on palliative care research that has high impact, builds research capacity and drives collaboration.

The Palliative Care Research Network (PCRN) also incorporates the Early Career Researcher Forum (ECRF). This forum provides support for researchers and clinicians from all disciplines on the island of Ireland who consider themselves in the early and mid-stage of their research career in palliative care.

In order to guide research in palliative care we have worked with people with life limiting conditions, carers, volunteers and health and social care professionals to identify the Top 10 research priorities based on their views. With the number one research question identified as: what are the best ways of providing palliative care outside of ‘working hours ‘to avoid crises and help patients to stay in their place of choice?

We understand that if research is to make a difference to people with life limiting conditions their needs to be successful knowledge transfer and exchange between researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and the public. To make it easier for researchers to identify the key message from their research, the stakeholders involved and how they should share their knowledge we supported the development of an evidence-based model EMTReK. We offer support and advice to researchers on using EMTReK, opportunities for knowledge exchange including providing access to the palliative hub professional for researchers to share their knowledge.

We are dedicated to identifying and developing collaborations with other funding organisations and stakeholders to enhance the availability of funding for research in palliative care, and to create, where appropriate, opportunities for knowledge exchange and translation.

For further information see The Palliative Hub – Professional