In order to guide research to address key research priorities for people with life limiting conditions, carers, volunteers and health and social care professionals, on the island of Ireland, AIIHPC participated in a UK and Ireland project (developed by the Palliative and end of life care Priority Setting Partnership and initiated by Marie Curie).

The aim was to bring all the stakeholders with an interest in palliative care research together to identify and prioritise key research questions for palliative and end of life care. AIIHPC extracted the data for Ireland from the overall project and held a consensus workshop, independently facilitated by the James Lind Alliance, to identify the Top 10 Research Priorities for the island of Ireland.

Top of the list was improving out of hours’ care including symptom management, counselling and advice, GP visits and 24 hour support for patients, carers and families. The second priority was identifying the best ways of providing care in the patient’s home and how home care can be maintained for as long as possible. The third priority concerned pain and symptom relief and which drugs are best in terms of side-effects, such as drowsiness.

A number of recommendations emerged from the priority setting work, the first of these was to engage key stakeholders in discussions on how the priorities can be realised. A strategic planning workshop took place to enable discussion on the identified final Top 10 Research Priorities for palliative and end of life care specifically across the island of Ireland.

The AIIHPC PCRN strategic plan 2017 -2022 outlines key activities aligned to the Top 10 research priorities. This includes supporting PCRN members to ensure their research responds to the identified research priorities; as well as identifying focused research programmes that are informed by the research priorities.

To find out more about the project visit the palliative hub professional.