ENGAGE – IL Collaboration
Federal HRSA GWEP funding in July 2015 provides an opportunity to grow the Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care and UIC Interprofessional (IP) Education partnership through our innovative ENGAGE – IL initiative.
Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care will participate in ENGAGE – IL as a collaborative partner providing education and training on advanced dementia through their L.I.F.E. Institute (Leading Innovators in End-of-life Education). Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care will play an instrumental role in the development, pilot, and evaluation of the ENGAGE – IL Dementia Guide app.
The purpose and mission of the L.I.F.E. Institute is to influence and inspire health care professionals and the public to understand that the end of life can be a time of comfort and personal growth for people who are seriously ill or dying, as well as for those who love and care for them.
Our ENGAGE – IL partnership overlays nicely onto our current effective IP education and training opportunities. It helps build partnership sustainability.
“The collaborative relationships and projects developed are transforming care at end-of-life. Our program graduates and results are disseminated, spreading best practices.”
Snapshot of Effective Partnership
65 medical residents from five hospitals completed a residency rotation in hospice and palliative care at Rainbow
More than 270 nursing students from 10 programs completed a series of hospice and palliative care lectures and clinical observations
Rainbow provided 10 supervised graduate internships for social work, art therapy, and counseling students
Rainbow educators provided 157 continuing education sessions for 5,238 clinical professionals
Rainbow outreach educators provided 67 community education events for 3,763 community members
Rainbow is establishing a fellowship in Palliative Care, and their physicians have participated in the Blue Cross Blue Shield PREP-CPC and Coleman Fellows mentorship program in palliative care for the past two years.
Under the auspices of the L.I.F.E. Institute, Rainbow has also engaged in innovative research regarding improvements in care for people living with advanced dementia and pain management
Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care Service and Expertise
Rainbow is dedicated to promoting team-based, patient-centered palliative care to frail elderly and dying patients and their families. They are among the oldest and largest of the non-profit organizations serving Chicagoland. Rainbow Hospice serves residents of Cook, Lake, McHenry, Kane, DuPage and Will Counties.
Rainbow extends that comfort to support bereaved loved ones of Rainbow Hospice patients and others in the greater Chicago community.
Based on the success of their Comfort Care for Advanced Dementia project, they have organizational expertise in improving patient-centered care for people with Alzheimer disease and other advanced dementias.