More Access to Palliative Care Georgia is a new user-friendly web tool that helps patients, families and referring physicians locate nearby palliative care services and highlights underserved areas to improve statewide access.
Kimberly A. Curseen, MD
Patients, families and referring physicians now have a new online source for locating palliative care services in Georgia.
Developed by Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, More Access to Palliative Care Georgia (MAPGA) is a searchable database of vetted inpatient and outpatient palliative care agencies and hospital-based programs across the state.
Palliative care is a comprehensive treatment for the discomfort, symptoms and stress of a serious illness and focuses on all the ways an illness like cancer can affect patients and families. Palliative care practitioners work closely with a patient’s primary health care team to prevent and ease suffering and improve a patient’s quality of life at any stage of their illness.
“We created this resource to bridge a critical gap in access to palliative care,” says Kimberly Curseen, MD, director of Winship’s Palliative Medicine Program, who led the development of MAPGA. “Patients dealing with a serious illness shouldn’t have to struggle to find the support they need. This tool brings those services to their fingertips.”
Users who visit MAPGA can view a list and interactive map of nearby palliative care services, including hospital-based outpatient clinics and home-based care. For more customized results, they can enter their zip code or filter by location (clinic, in-home or hospital-based/inpatient) and type (adult or pediatric). MAPGA also features a “heat map” that highlights gaps in access to care.
“This vital resource serves a dual purpose. It not only helps identify access to palliative care and community support but also highlights areas without access to palliative care,” said Curseen, an associate professor in the Division of Palliative Medicine in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and director of Supportive and Palliative Care Outpatient Services at Emory Healthcare. “These are palliative care deserts, forcing patients to travel long distances for care when they are most vulnerable. We hope this resource can be used to advocate for greater access to high-quality palliative care across the state.”
In addition to Curseen, other collaborators who contributed to the concept and development of MAPGA include Theresa W. Gillespie, PhD, MA, BSN, FAAN, Winship’s associate director for cancer health equity and community engagement; Eryka Murray, MPH, CHES, health educator with Winship's Community Outreach and Engagement; Winship’s Research IT team; and Paula Sanders, chief executive officer of the Georgia Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and a member of Winship’s Community Advisory Board.