Introduction

My name is Manjula Patel, I am a part time PhD student at Warwick University School of Health and Social Science. This is my forth year and the topic of my research is within the same field as part of my work, which is supporting people at end of life at home within the community, as well supporting older people to remain well at home. My particular area of interest is in the development of Compassionate Communities, which is a public health approach to end of life care, a concept of public health palliative care.

My research study aims to explore how the different models of Compassionate Communities are understood and experienced; how cultural and social diversity is addressed within the concept; and how the practice and provision supports people dying at home.

This will involve exploring with people at the end of life how family, friends and care professionals as part of a caring network supports them as they receive care and support at home. Also, the study will explore with those providing care and support, their family, friends and professional carers their experience of caring, and how these experiences impacts them.

Qualitative methods have considerable advantages when exploring sensitive issues with people such as their experience of death, dying and loss in community settings. This study will aim to explore the lived experiences of; people receiving palliative care in their last year of their lives living at home, and with members of their informal and formal caring networks. This will include, family members, friends, professionals and volunteers, the context of the home within the community setting will be an important factor. This study will be a multi-sited case study where data will be collected from three different sites where models of Compassionate Communities are being developed.