Palliative and Supportive Care in Advanced Heart Failure

We propose a 2-day consensus conference, "Palliative and Supportive
Care in Advanced Heart Failure" to be held on September 5-6, 2002. The
specific aims of the conference are to:
1. Identify gaps in current knowledge, practice and research relating to
identifying prognosis, managing symptoms, and supporting patients and
families at likelihood of death from congestive heart failure.
2. Draft a consensus statement about care for patients with advanced
heart failure, including optimal medical management, advance care
planning, decision-making about life-prolonging interventions, palliation
of symptoms, and support and education for the patient and family.
3. Identify a research agenda for supportive care of patients with
advanced heart failure and identify strategies and mechanisms for
studying the domains identified.
4. Develop partnerships with stakeholder organizations, including the
major societies for cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, and congestive
heart failure, Center for Medicare and Medicaid, and the National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute in order to create participation in research and
education about Supportive Care.
5. Create a working group of heart failure specialists, palliative care
specialists and Peer Review Organizations to address Supportive Care in
advanced heart failure.
Conference attendees will include experts in heart failure, quality of life
research in heart disease and palliative are, and working group
participants.