Improving Quality of Life with Early Initiation of Palliative Care in Patients with Advanced Cancer

This evidence-based project explores the effect of initiating palliative care early in advanced cancer to improve patients’ quality of life, anxiety, and depression. Medical oncology providers will identify patients with distant metastases, late-stage, or life-limiting cancer, educate identified patients on benefits of palliative care, and refer them for initial palliative care consultation. Quality of life, depression and anxiety will be measured for each patient prior to consultation and after three months of receiving dedicated palliative care services, using the MQOL, PHQ9 and GAD7 questionnaires.