Title: Implementing a Tool to Enhance Person-Centered Care in End-of-Life and Intensive Care Settings: The SELFY Tool
Funder:
Duration:
Team Members:
Partners:
Description: This implementation science project based at Dalhousie University is led by Dr. Mary Ellen Macdonald, J & W Murphy Foundation Endowed Chair in Palliative Care. Conducted in partnership with Hospice Cape Breton and Nova Scotia Health, the study evaluates the implementation and impact of the SELFY (Share–Explore–Learn–Focus on You) Tool across hospice, palliative care, and intensive care settings in Nova Scotia.
The SELFY Tool, adapted from the Personalized Patient Assessment Tool (PPAT) developed at Hospice Cape Breton, provides a structured approach to documenting patients’ personal values, preferences, routines, relationships, and sources of comfort to support person-centred care. Using a longitudinal, multiple-case mixed-methods design across five healthcare sites, the project examines implementation processes, identifies barriers and facilitators to adoption, and co-develops a minimum data set to integrate person-centred information into routine clinical practice.
Working collaboratively with healthcare providers, volunteers, patients, family partners, Hospice Cape Breton, and Nova Scotia Health’s Implementation Science Team, the project aims to improve the delivery of compassionate, person-centred care across end-of-life and critical care settings. The research has generated implementation resources, conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and recommendations to support broader adoption of the SELFY Tool within healthcare systems, contributing evidence on practical approaches to embedding person-centred care into everyday clinical practice.
Funding: The project is supported by a QEII Translating Research into Care (TRIC) Level 2 Grant of $39,000.
The Death and Grief Research Collaborative 