[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 212 (Wednesday, November 3, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64074-64075]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-24479]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


State-of-the-Science Conference on Improving End-of-Life Care

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) 
``State-of-the-Science Conference on Improving End-of-Life Care'' to be 
held December 6-8, 2004, in the NIH Natcher Conference Center, 45 
Center Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892. The conference will begin at 
8:30 a.m. on December 6 and 7, and at 9 a.m. on December 8, and will be 
open to the public.
    Improvements in medical science and health care have gradually 
changed the nature of dying. Death is no longer as likely to be the 
sudden result of infection or injury but is now more likely to occur 
slowly, in old age, and at the end of a period of chronic illness. As a 
result, a demographic shift is beginning to occur that will include an 
increase in the number of seriously ill and dying people at the same 
time that the number of caregivers decreases. To meet this challenge, 
the best that science can offer must be applied to guarantee the 
quality of care provided to the dying.
    The 1997 publication of the Institute of Medicine report 
``Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life'' triggered a 
series of activities to improve

[[Page 64075]]

the quality of care and the quality of life at the end of life. Topics 
of resulting NIH initiatives have included the clinical management of 
symptoms at the end of life; patterns of communication among patients, 
families, and providers; ethics and health care decision making; 
caregiver support; the context of care delivery; complementary and 
alternative medicine at the end of life; dying children and their 
families; and informal care-giving. This conference will examine the 
results of these many efforts and evaluate the current state of the 
science.
    During the first day-and-a-half of the conference, experts will 
present the latest research findings on end-of-life care to an 
independent panel. After weighing all of the scientific evidence, the 
panel will draft a statement, addressing the following key questions:

 What defines the transition to end of life?
 What outcome variables are important indicators of the quality 
of the end of life experience for the dying person and for the 
surviving loved ones?
 What patient, family, and health care system factors are 
associated with improved or worsened outcomes?
 What processes and interventions are associated with improved 
or worsened outcomes?
 What are future research directions for improving end-of-life 
care?

    On the final day of the conference, the panel chairperson will read 
the draft statement to the conference audience and invite comments and 
questions. A press conference will follow to allow the panel and 
chairperson to respond to questions from the media.
    The primary sponsors of this meeting are the National Institute of 
Nursing Research and the NIH Office of Medical Applications of 
Research.
    Advance information about the conference and conference 
registration materials may be obtained from American Institutes for 
Research of Silver Spring, Maryland, by calling 888-644-2667, or by 
sending e-mail to [email protected]. American Institutes for 
Research's mailing address is 10720 Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD, 
20901. Registration information is also available on the NIH Consensus 
Development Program Web site at http://consensus.nih.gov.


    Please Note: The NIH has recently instituted new security 
measures to ensure the safety of NIH employees and property. All 
visitors must be prepared to show a photo ID upon request. Visitors 
may be required to pass through a metal detector and have bags, 
backpacks, or purses inspected or x-rayed as they enter NIH 
buildings. For more information about the new security measures at 
NIH, please visit the Web site at http://www.nih.gov/about/visitorssecurity.htm.


    Dated: October 22, 2004.
Raynard S. Kington,
Deputy Director, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 04-24479 Filed 11-2-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-01-P