Research & Grant Projects
We are recognized for research activities where it matters most — at the grassroots level in communities nationwide.
HFA research improves end-of-life and bereavement care across the United States.
Our research focuses on preparing people to make decisions about their own end-of-life care.
We support and participate in research aimed at improving hospice care, understanding grief, and caring for the bereaved.
We take on national projects that address care for historically underserved people, with help from government and private funding.
Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Project Talk Trial is a five-year national, randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate different approaches for engaging underserved individuals in end-of-life care planning.
HFA is proud to partner with researchers at Penn State College of Medicine and University of Kentucky to conduct this trial, now in its fourth year.
With generous support from the NLM Family Foundation, HFA has developed autismandgrief.org, a website to foster a healthier grief experience for adults with autism. The website empowers adults with autism by acknowledging their varied grief reactions and provides information that family, friends, and professionals can use to provide effective support.
The five-year project, now in its fifth year, is widely recognized as the first resource of its kind for autistic adults.
With generous support from the NLM Family Foundation, HFA has developed autismandgrief.org, a website to foster a healthier grief experience for adults with autism. The website empowers adults with autism by acknowledging their varied grief reactions and provides information that family, friends, and professionals can use to provide effective support. The five-year project, now in…
Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Project Talk Trial is a five-year national, randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate different approaches for engaging underserved individuals in end-of-life care planning. The goal of the Trial is to evaluate the impact of several approaches to promote advance care planning in underserved populations (such as ethnic…
With funding from the John and Wauna Harman Foundation, HFA is exploring the efficacy of using Facebook groups to facilitate advance care planning (ACP) concerning their end-of-life healthcare wishes, emphasizing the need to make ACP more accessible to underserved populations. The pilot will launch in late 2024.
Additional funding was provided to HFA, Penn State College of Medicine, and University of Kentucky to determine the feasibility of using the Hello game to facilitate conversations about advance care planning in populations at risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
HFA partnered with Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center to coordinate a 16-month research grant project on the importance of talking about end-of-life wishes and documenting those wishes using the conversation game, Hello. Game activities ended December 30, 2018, and research data continued through fall 2019.
HFA coordinated an 18-month nationwide public awareness campaign on the importance of talking about end-of-life preferences and goals with loved ones and medical professionals. The project was underwritten by the John and Wauna Harman Foundation and educated more than 60,000 people across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Over 500 hosts partnered with local…
With funding from the John and Wauna Harman Foundation, HFA produced an hour-long program that tells the stories of people whose lives have been affected by hospice care. It provides a glimpse into the lives of hospice patients and their families and caregivers who share their decision to use hospice care and resulting experiences. The…
With funding from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, HFA completed a three-year project in 2012 focused on informing the public about the benefits of hospice care and grief support services available through hospice providers. In addition to English, online and printed materials were produced in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.
HFA was awarded a grant by the State of Florida to develop the End-of-Life Clergy Education Project. The outcome of the project was a comprehensive continuing education program for clergy focused on end-of-life care, hospice care, and bereavement care.
Whether you’re a patient, family member, or a friend trying to determine whether hospice is the right choice, HFA is here. We provide guidance before, during, and after the important decisions are made.
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