Measuring the quality of family experience: Measuring quality of life for patients at the end of life has been problematic. Our research team has developed a measure, the “QUAL-E,” to assess the patient’s quality of life as he/she nears death. The purpose of this project is to further develop the QUAL-E for cases where patients cannot respond for themselves, such as very near death when they can no longer communicate or are non-responsive. This “QUAL-E fam” tool will enable physicians to gather invaluable information for optimizing the quality of life of patients with serious illness.

Pat Hartwell (919) 286-0411, ext. 7377