From 2005–2010, a group of senior palliative care investigators, methodologists, and clinicians discussed how best to advance the evidence base in palliative care, with an eye toward developing a coordinated national research effort. Informal conversations culminated in a 1½-day meeting of researchers interested in participating in the formation of a palliative care cooperative group.
Possessing expertise in patient-reported outcomes, biostatistics, practice-based research networks, social work, nursing, and psychology, participants represented diverse clinical organizations, the NIH, existing cooperative groups, and international palliative care research networks.
All participants funded most of their own travel expenses; those unable to physically attend participated via teleconference. The meeting was held on the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, January 16–17, 2010. Its purposes were to: (1) define the structure and function of a national interdisciplinary cooperative group in palliative care research and (2) delineate an action plan for developing capacity for collaborative comparative effectiveness research in palliative care.