June 2021 | Issue 3 | Page 5 protects a percentage of my efforts for research development and implementation . This pursuit of knowledge lead to the publication of a first authored manuscript , where my co-authors , Drs . Autumn Schumacher and Merry Stewart , of a conceptual model of minority palliative care usage during end-of-life that begins with early palliative care and progresses with worsening disease to late palliative care . I also recognized that I would need to build a scientific advisory team with expert research mentors and sought guidance and recommendations from Dr . Jerri Miller of the National Institutes on Nursing Research .
Dr . Miller recommended that I speak with Dr . Marie Bakitas of UAB- Birmingham . Subsequent discussion with
Dr . Shena Gazaway ( center ) with her colleagues Dr . John Haley ( left ) and Dr . Marlene Call ( right ).
Dr . Bakitas led to an invite to attend the UAB Center for Palliative and Supportive Care Summit and be introduced formally to Dr . Ronit Elk . After speaking and ensuring fit , passion , and time both Drs . Elk and Bakitas have formally mentored my supplement ’ s development and its training objectives .”
Since Dr . Gazaway ’ s supplement study was funded , she has been working on getting all her study elements – the study questionnaire , permission from the IRB and input from community members , and she will begin interviewing African American caregivers about their role in making healthcare decisions for their loved ones in June . She has also worked in partnership with Dr . Bakitas and I and others on authoring several important publications , focusing on different aspects of palliative care in African American elders , that will be submitted to several scientific journals within the next few weeks ! Not only that , she is collaborating with Drs . Elk and Barnett on another study and working with us to submit another grant examining Goals of Care Conversations in African American communities . And to put the cherry on the cake , in May 2021 Dr . Gazaway joined the faculty at the School of Nursing UAB and the Center for Palliative and Supportive Care . Dr . Gazaway has already begun , and will continue to make , substantial contributions to the field of palliative care .
" We cannot change the outcome , but we can affect the journey ." ~ Ann Richardson