Advancing the Science of Palliative Care Research Across the Lifespan (ASCENT) Consortium - ASCENT: OVERALL PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Across the lifespan, people living with serious illness suffer physically, psychosocially and financially. The health system too often fails to deliver appropriate, effective care and persons with serious illness (PWSI) frequently experience mismatches between their goals for care and the treatments received. Palliative Care (PC) meets the needs of PWSI and their caregivers by focusing on achieving the best possible quality of life while receiving life-prolonging and curative treatments as is congruent with patient goals of care. PC is appropriate from the point of diagnosis throughout the trajectory of a serious illness for persons of any age, with diagnoses including cancer, Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementias (AD/ADRD), advanced organ diseases (including heart, lung, liver, kidney), stroke, neuro-muscular degenerative diseases, genetic disorders and rare congenital and metabolic disorders, among others. While there have been significant gains in the past 2 decades, the evidence base to guide and improve PC – and thus to improve the quality of life for PWSI and their caregivers – remains inadequate. We thus urgently need to expand the PC evidence base and create a robust field capable of creating that evidence base. The Advancing the Science of Palliative Care Research Across the Lifespan (ASCENT) Consortium will be a national consortium of experts in PC that will advance innovative, high-quality research to improve care for people living with serious illness by providing resources and expertise in a coordinated manner. Specifically, the ASCENT Consortium will: 1) Develop the national scientific infrastructure and community needed to advance PC research. The ASCENT community will include scientists, healthcare systems, community-based organizations, clinicians, advocates, patients and caregivers to inform research priorities, study design, and dissemination strategies to maximize the relevance and impact of ASCENT. 2) Create new PC research knowledge and research methodologies by conducting developmental projects, creating a PC research methodology and career development curriculum, and supporting the work of PC scientists via funding and provision of resources and expert consultation. 3) Foster career development and impact of the PC field by supporting career development and pilot awards, providing access to methodologic consultations, and mentoring scientists. 4) Disseminate PC research findings and facilitate subsequent adoption and implementation, employing a multi-pronged approach to dissemination. Through these 4 specific aims, the ASCENT Consortium will transform the field of PC research, generating new knowledge and methods, developing and expanding the palliative care field, and facilitating implementation to enhance the experience of PWSI and their caregivers across the lifespan.
