Hospice partnerships with academic entities: philosophical and historical background and assessment of future needs.

There is consensus that more research is needed to help improve care at the end of life. Despite the fact that hospices take care of more and more dying persons every year, hospice organizations have not been highly involved in research. The National Hospice Work Group is comprised of hospice organizations that have made promotion of research a high priority. Structured interviews were conducted with members of the National Hospice Work Group to investigate how they think about the role of academic partners in their organizational missions, what their histories of involvement with academic partners are, and what they see as their most important academic needs for continuing to advance the research agenda. Members of the National Hospice Work Group see strategic partnerships with academic entities as essential to the goal of advancing research in end-of-life care.