Coping with the Inevitable; Providing Relief and Care

Palliative care can be used to achieve the best possible quality-of-life for the situation at hand, including cases where the patient is clearly dying.  BGU intends to be a "driving force" for transformational change here in Israel, resulting in improved palliative care for all concerned.

Accordingly, The Kappy and Eric Flanders Palliative Care Resource Center based at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU-PCC), is dedicated to education, research, training, encourage development of nation-wide services.

BGU  -  Consolidating and Integrating Knowledge and Expertise

For its part, the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is well positioned to take a leading role in the burgeoning field of palliative care/palliative medicine. The University and its teaching sites - both in hospitals and the community -  possesses the requisite expertise and a cadre of highly qualified professionals (see below) eager to take on the exciting challenge of advancing the cause of palliative care for the benefit of all of Israel's citizens.

The BGU team, which leads this Center, is made up of many pertinent experts including those individuals who were called upon by the Ministry of Health for expert input when the Ministry drafted its national standards and protocols for palliative medicine.  Israel's healthcare system is based on legislation, and the National Health Insurance Law mandates the healthcare services, drugs, and access to medical devices which the public at large is entitled to.  The BGU team actively championed the successful inclusion of palliative care in the law's compulsory "healthcare basket."

Beer-Sheva already has the largest concentration of specialist doctors and other clinical staff  relevant to palliative care in the entire country.  Furthermore, BGU has the intangible, yet critical element of "passion" for this cause.  The University is well positioned to establish the Palliative Care Resource Center at BGU by consolidating and integrating the knowledge, skills, experience, expertise, enthusiasm, and readiness for teamwork which already exist, but which remain somewhat spread out across various schools and departments.

The BGU Palliative Care Resource Center members will come from a variety of backgrounds and sites from  across   the country and will bring with them in-depth experience from the clinical  sciences, analytical research, public health administration, public policy, social work, medical ethics, and psychology. 

Four points which contribute to the "added value" of the proposed center are:

• BGU's leading role in 'INPACT' - a special program for Israeli National Palliative Care Training funded by JOINT-ESHEL and the New York Jewish Federation.
• The recognized experts and strong programs already in place at BGU in community-based medicine, including programs for both nurses and doctors.
• The close affiliation of the Faculty of Health Science's two major teaching institutions, the Soroka University Medical Center and The Beer-sheva Mental Health Center in Beer-Sheva, and  the Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, with almost all relevant hospital doctors having clinical appointments with BGU's Faculty of Heath Sciences.
• A unique spirit of collaboration and an eagerness for cooperative efforts which helps make BGU such a unique and distinctive University.

  Ben-Gurion University – Adopting a Leadership Position

Our aspirations are large and goals ambitious. Our founding vision is for the establishment of the BGU Palliative Care Resource Center, dedicated to education, research, training, and encouraging the development of nation-wide services.

The BGU Palliative Care Resource Center is a first-of-its-kind endeavor for the State of Israel.  We envisage the rapid growth and development of the Center, and our goal is formal recognition as a national body, with a commensurate role as the leading authority for the development of palliative care as an integral specialty area within the much broader framework of general healthcare and academia.

Unfortunately, while much progress has been made over the last few decades, Israel still lags behind other societies relating to the development of palliative care. Ben-Gurion University is ready and able take on a leadership position with the establishment of BGU Palliative Care Resource Center. BGU is committed to becoming the principal advocate, and primary driver, for the coherent development of academic palliative care and integration of country-wide palliative services in Israel.

Thus, while the BGU Palliative Care Resource Center will not be a clinical operation per se , it will comprise  an academic platform for palliative care, endeavoring to impact in a positive and significant manner on the palliative care services available to all appropriate patients country-wide.

It is our strong conviction that an Academic Palliative Care Resource Center dedicated to improved nation-wide services is not a luxury, but a necessity.

 Pillars of Activity

The BGU Palliative Resource Care Center will be active and engaged.  It will be founded on four equally robust "pillars of activity" as delineated below. Center members from across the country will be welcome to take part in any or all of the following: 

Education

As befitting Ben-Gurion University with its Faculty of Health Sciences responsible for multiple programs for teaching doctors, nurses, physical therapists, etc., special courses will be developed for the formal instruction of palliative medicine and care. The Center will make every effort to inculcate palliative care as a recognized and required part of the relevant curricula. Instruction in palliative care will be broad-based, covering all areas from theory to actual clinical exposure.

Additionally, other courses (and special modules) will be developed using innovative teaching techniques and integrated into degree programs where appropriate, e.g. the Departments of Social Work, Psychology, Sociology, Health Systems Management, etc.

 Training

 The training component will complement the center's educational activities, serving as a natural accompaniment to the curriculum-based knowledge noted above.  Training will be of an applied, hands-on nature.  Training will allow the acquisition of practical and firsthand experience under the watchful eyes of highly trained professionals. Training will be available for all levels of experience and backgrounds, including veteran nurses and doctors who heretofore were not exposed to palliative medicine.

Research

The Center will stimulate, initiate, develop, and to the extent possible fund relevant research activities.  The Center will strive to organize and conduct biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and health services research related to patients with serious and chronic illness. The Center will likewise work to create national research networks and multi-site studies, resulting in a much-improved knowledge base, thereby contributing to the goal applying evidence-based research to the actual practice of palliative medicine.

ProaActive Advocacy

The Palliative Care Resource Center will embody the doctrine of   "lead, not follow"   and will work tirelessly to improve the overall situation for the care of dying patients in Israel.  The Center will work for meaningful, systemic change on all relevant levels: treatment of the individual; Negev/regional healthcare; and nation-wide resources.  The Center will pro-actively target government officials, policy-makers, and other stakeholders to ensure that palliative medicine and care enters a new era of continual advancement here in Israel, on a level commensurate with the country's technological prowess.