Local Scholars Grant Program
Creating New Knowledge about End-of-Life Care

The Challenge

Providing end-of-life care requires attention to the physical, spiritual and emotional well-being of patients and their families. To date, research in this young field of palliative medicine has focused primarily on clinical and health-care delivery issues, with less emphasis placed on the spiritual and emotional dimensions involved in this care. The highest quality palliative care, however, is recognized to be multi-dimensional, as it takes place in the hospital as well as in the community and includes medical and non-medical interventions. Support of research in all of these areas is needed to establish a comprehensive knowledge base for improving care of patients and their families.

“The data from the ICEOL-funded pilot study were the deciding factor that enabled me to secure an NIH grant for a large international clinical trial that will have sweeping implications for managing a troubling and widespread end-of-life concern.”
— Amy Abernethy, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine

ICEOL’S Response

The Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life (ICEOL) is dedicated to creating knowledge and rediscovering wisdoms about end-of-life care. Since 2001, ICEOL has sponsored a Local Scholars Grant Program to broaden and deepen scholarship into end-of-life issues and support the efforts of local researchers. Grants have been given for exploring issues that range from caregivers who are facing their own deaths to barriers to hospice care within nursing homes, as well as for investigations into congregational practices related to end-of-life care and how parents cope with the loss of a child.

The Local Scholars Grant Program focuses on funding in three areas: spiritual care at the end of life, disparity in end-of-life care, and theological, literary or historical aspects of suffering, death and dying. To promote a multi-disciplinary perspective, proposals are encouraged from scholars who work in any discipline and are associated with Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, or North Carolina Central University.

To date, ICEOL has awarded a dozen  grants totaling nearly $220,000. The impact has been impressive, with scholars contributing new work to the field, translating their findings into larger research projects, and strengthening the network of local scholars interested in the spiritual dimensions of palliative care.  Most importantly, the potential for ICEOL-sponsored research to affect the ways in which dying is experienced by patients, families, clinicians and clergy is profound.

The Future

  • The need to create new knowledge in the emerging field of spirituality and end-of-life care is enormous and, therefore, ICEOL is committed to expanding its Local Scholars Grant Program by increasing the number of grants awarded annually.
  • ICEOL will sponsor symposia that bring together past and current grantees to share insights and engage in dialogue.
  • ICEOL will support investigators in disseminating their research findings across the field.