Care of the Dying

A University of Alabama assistant professor of psychology is researching ways to improve hospice care in hopes of providing more comfort to the dying and enabling caregivers to better manage the associated stress.

The National Institute on Aging awarded Dr. Rebecca Allen, who is also the associate director of UA’s Applied Gerontology Program, some $450,000 for the 5-year project.

As part of the Care Integration Team project, Allen and her collaborators are spending time with several volunteer families receiving hospice services. The families are divided into two groups. One group will receive typical hospice care while the other group will receive additional therapeutic support, designed to assist the caregiver with medical decision making and self-care. The two groups will then be compared to gauge what types of additional support would best benefit the caregiver and the terminally ill.