Project for Dying in America

In 1997, PDIA selected 12 faculty scholars, bringing the three-year total to 38 scholars, representing 27 U.S. medical schools and three Canadian medical schools. This network of scholars was brought together to transform the care of the dying into a recognized and defined specialty field. PDIA’s education and efforts brought results in 1997 with the publication of a number of reports and the establishment and expansion of new organizations committed to improving care for the dying. The Alliance for Aging Research published Seven Deadly Myths: Uncovering the Facts about the High Cost of the Last Year of Life, and the Institute of Medicine released a book-length report based on the findings of its Committee on Care at the End of Life. Approaching Death examined the state of knowledge about end-of-life care, identified barriers to good care, and recommended steps that policymakers, practitioners, and others could take to improve care.

In light of the progress in improving the care for the dying, the Open Society Institute committed $15 million to PDIA to continue its work for another three-year period. In this second phase, PDIA will focus its efforts on several major initiatives while maintaining a commitment to health-care professional education and training. While continuing the Faculty Scholars Program, PDIA will seek to involve professionals in other fields in efforts to improve the end-of-life care. Through focus groups and meetings, PDIA hopes to encourage the nursing, social work, and pastoral-care professionals to adopt agendas for end-of-life care and to create their own innovative approaches to education, training, and research. PDIA will attempt to enhance the role of the humanities in transforming the culture of dying by supporting scholars who are exploring the subject in literature, poetry, drama, history, cultural studies, film, video, and photography. The new de Tocqueville Enterprise will focus on the development of community-based caretaking networks that encourage individual volunteers, as well as volunteer groups, to work on improving the care of the dying in collaboration with professional caretaking organizations. (Information can be found at www.soros.org).