Building End-of-Life Science through Positive Human Strengths and Traits

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application proposes establishment of an interdisciplinary biomedical core focused on quality of life research for seriously ill people, including those who are at the end of life. The proposed biomedical core center, Building End-of-Life Science through Positive Human Strengths and Traits (BEST), is supported by a strong interdisciplinary group of researchers, clinicians, and academic leaders In quality of life of patients with advanced Illness and their families. The BEST Center will move the science of palliative care research into a new direction- a paradigm shift that will address the need for investigations of the positive psychological traits that have the greatest influence on an individual's capacity to tolerate and even grow despite the physical and emotional threat of serious illness. The aims of the BEST Center are : (1) establish a Biomedical Core Center (BEST), focused on the following specific targeted area of research: strategies assessing and building on human strengths (such as learned optimism, self-efficacy, social connectedness) in coping with and managing serious illness; (2) formalize and coordinate current informal collaborative relationships among faculty and Institutions in order to support research projects in the targeted area of research; and (3) recruit and support new faculty committed to investigations in the targeted area. In order to do this, the BEST Center will be organized into three cores: (a) the Executive Core; (b) the Outreach and Education Core; and (c) the Mentorship Core. This Center will augment and enhance the capacity of the School of Nursing to investigate the application of findings from positive psychology in the population of patients with serious and life-limiting illness focusing on improving the quality of life in all domains. In addition to creating an organizational structure to support this Initiative, we will recruit and hire three new faculty committed to developing programs of research targeting positive attributes and /or biologic correlates in this population. The BEST Center Is founded on the related research conducted by an interdisciplinary group of faculty from disciplines currently linked in an internal faculty collaborative. Building on this strong base, we will continue to foster strategic collaborations with community programs, clinical practice settings, and existing relationships across institutional levels to promote collaboration and to share research expertise and knowledge related to end-of-life science. A thorough evaluation of the activities and milestones will assist us to measure our success and promote the sustainability of the BEST Center.