PaCES-Colorectal study
Development, implementation and evaluation of an early palliative care pathway for Albertans living with advanced colorectal cancer
The PaCES-Colorectal project involved a province-wide team of researchers and knowledge end-users working together to develop and deliver an early and systematic palliative care pathway for advanced colorectal cancer patients and their families in Alberta. Funded by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (2017-2021) and Alberta Health (2017-2020), this knowledge translation project studied methods to adapt and implement evidence-based practices for delivering early and systematic palliative care, at the population level, for patients with advanced colorectal cancer. The aim was to improve patient outcomes and health system inefficiencies, by increasing the number of patients receiving earlier palliative care.
Early palliative care clinical practice guideline and pathway documents
The 'Integrating an Early Palliative Approach into Advanced Colorectal Cancer Care' guideline and pathway provides a new standard of care for screening, identifying, and managing unmet needs of patients and their families/caregivers who may benefit from an early palliative approach to care. A number of resources and educational materials for patients and professionals have been developed to support the new pathway. These are:
- Provider scripts for introducing early palliative care
- A templated Shared Care Letter for Advanced Cancer to improve communication between oncologists and family physicians (see the colorectal cancer-specific version here)
- A patient version of the Shared Care Letter to describe the shared care model and encourage family physician involvement
- Local Palliative Tips: Resources for Health Care Providers Caring for Patients Living with Advanced Illness in Edmonton Zone, Central Zone, Calgary Zone, and South Zone
A directory of Referral Based Services for Advanced Cancer Care
Please check Cancer Care Alberta's Guideline Resource Unit (GURU) website for the most recent versions of the guideline and associated resources.