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Palliative care marks one-year anniversary

In September, 2010, UF and Shands Jacksonville partnered with Community Palliative Consultants to launch Shands Jacksonville Integrative Palliative Care, an inpatient palliative consultative service.

Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with life-limiting or life-threatening illnesses and their families, providing patients with relief from symptoms, pain and stress. The Shands Jacksonville Integrative Palliative Care team is comprised of physicians, nurse practitioners, a chaplain and a case manager. The team works alongside the patient’s physicians and nurses to provide additional support.

Highlights from the first year of Shands Jacksonville Integrative Palliative Care include:

  • More than 930 new palliative care consultations, exceeding the anticipated 250 - 350 new consultations for the first year.
  • Outcome measures showing the palliative care team reduced pain by an average of 4.1 on the 0-10 pain scale.
  • Goals of care discussions, in which the team facilitates family involvement and planning centered on patients’ wishes before a time of crisis.

Shands Jacksonville Integrative Palliative Care also offers additional therapeutic resources and services, including palliative care volunteers, spiritual readings and messages, and gift blankets made by volunteers at Macedonia Baptist Church in Jacksonville.

Mark McIntosh, MD, MPH, is the palliative care medical director. He said the program is providing much-needed services to our patients, as evidenced by the unexpectedly high number of consultations. He said it is a challenge for the team to keep up with the demand, and his goal is to expand the team through staff assistance, recruiting more volunteers and having more individual roles converted into full-time positions.

McIntosh said he believes the upside potential for the program is considerable, not only in how it serves patients but in how the holistic philosophy and practices of palliative care can be disseminated throughout the hospital.

"I think we’ve seen only the tip of the iceberg," said McIntosh. "In the future, I think palliative care can really have a positive impact on such things as pain management and readmissions. Its principles – treating both the medical and spiritual needs of patients – are important because we know in general that recovery rates are better when these principles are applied."

Palliative care is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness. To request a consultation for patients and their families, or for more information, call (904) 407-7700.

Featured Faculty

Mark S. McIntosh, MD, MPH

Mark S. McIntosh, MD, MPH

Associate Professor
Medical Director, Palliative Care; Medical Director, UF Health Corporate Wellness