title: The Transplant Palliative Care Clinic: An early palliative care model for patients in a transplant program.
abstract: Although patients within a transplant program are awaiting or have received disease modifying or curative treatment, they are also facing advanced illness and the possibility of death. The involvement of specialized palliative care services for these patients may improve symptom management and facilitate advance care planning. However, patients in organ transplantation programs have difficulty accessing palliative care resources and often do so only sporadically in the inpatient setting. Currently, there is little access to ambulatory palliative care for these patients and there have been no descriptions of programs delivering such care in the medical literature. We outline the development and structure of a Transplant Palliative Care Clinic within the University Health Network's Multi-Organ Transplant Program, in Toronto, Canada. This information may be helpful for others aiming to provide early, integrated palliative care to patients awaiting and receiving organ transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Supportive Care, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wentlandt
authors.affiliation: Multi-Organ Transplant Program, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dall'Osto
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine [Windsor Program], Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Lisa W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Le
authors.affiliation: Department of Supportive Care, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Ebru
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.affiliation: Multi-Organ Transplant Program, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.|University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.affiliation: Multi-Organ Transplant Program, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.|University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Division of Respirology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Lianne G
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2693-8676
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Singer
authors.affiliation: Multi-Organ Transplant Program, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.|University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abbey
authors.affiliation: Pain Research Unit and the Transitional Pain Service, Department of Anaesthesia, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Department of Anaesthesia, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Hance
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.affiliation: Department of Supportive Care, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Campbell Family Cancer Research Institute, Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009864:Ontario; D016377:Organ Transplantation; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016730:Program Development
keywords: palliative care; symptom management; transplantation