FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dr. Bruera named M. D. Anderson head of symptom control and palliative care
CONTACT: Michael Courtney, (713) 792-0663
HOUSTON -- A new outpatient Center for Symptom Control and Palliative Care has opened at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center under the direction of Dr. Eduardo Bruera, newly appointed chairman of the Department of Symptom Control and Palliative Care.
Dr. Bruera will serve as a professor of medicine and hold the F. T. McGraw Chair in Treatment of Cancer.
He joined M. D. Anderson's faculty from Grey Nuns Community Health Centre in Alberta, Canada, where he served as clinical director of the Edmonton Regional Palliative Care Program. He also was a professor of oncology at the University of Alberta and held the Alberta Cancer Foundation Chair in Palliative Medicine.
With a background in medical oncology, Dr. Bruera has spent the last 15 years becoming an expert in assessing and treating the difficult physical and psychosocial problems that are present in patients with incurable cancer. His current research interests include delirium and dementia in terminal cancer, methadone for cancer pain and outcomes research in palliative care.
Dr. Thomas Feeley, head of M. D. Anderson's Division of Anesthesiology and Critical Care said,
"Dr. Bruera, who is a leading figure in palliative care, is planning an inpatient and outpatient palliative care unit that will incorporate expanded cancer pain and cancer treatment programs."
The new Center for Symptom Control and Palliative Care incorporates several sections including the Pain Research Group and Physical Medicine/Rehabilitative group. The Center will see only two patients a day, creating a multidisciplinary care plan for each individual patient.
The Center gives patients who are at the end of life the opportunity to establish a comprehensive care plan that is designed to complement each patient's specific needs. During their day-long visit, each patient will be seen by a physician, nurse, psychiatrist, nutritionist, pharmacist and chaplain representative. A care planning conference will decide the most effective treatment for the patient, who will receive written instructions as well as an audio tape of what was discussed. Follow-up consultations will be conducted by the nurse assigned to the patient's case.
The Center is unique in that it provides both traditional clinic rooms for pain treatment patients and palliative care rooms for patients at the end of life. Palliative care rooms offer a friendly, home-like environment in which patients can make the often difficult decisions in regard to end of life care.
"There are a great number of cancer patients who need care and guidance, and a comprehensive way of getting that care," said Dr. Feeley. "This clinic will provide multidisciplinary care in a single room setting for patients who are at the end of life." Since 1989, Dr. Bruera has been the coordinator of the World Health Organization's Cancer Pain and Palliative Care Program for Latin America. He belongs to a variety of professional societies including the Canadian Medical Association, Alberta Medical Association, American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Asociacion Medica Argentina.
Dr. Bruera has contributed to numerous books and medical journals over his career, the most recent including the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine, 2nd Edition and Topics in Palliative Care, Vol. 3.
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7/20/99
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