Establishing Research Priorities in a Palliative Care Institution through Systematic Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is vital for maintaining an organization’s long-term vitality and effectiveness. Given the numerous potential research areas in palliative care, it is crucial to identify research priorities in a palliative care setting. The study aims to identify and prioritize feasible research priorities in palliative care and gather potential implementation recommendations. We completed the study in three phases: an online survey to gather potential research questions and a prioritization process, where participants select a few critical areas based on their importance, followed by active interactions with a panel of experts to finalize the top three research areas. In Phase 1, participants chose patient care and management as the most relevant area, followed by outcome measures and quality improvement, and psychosocial aspects as the most appropriate areas for research. Patient care and management were the highest priority needs, followed by outcome measures and quality improvement in Phase 2. Phase 3 helped identify the most highly prioritized need based on expert consensus. Each phase of the study contributed to narrowing down the options through prioritization and consensus-building. Such studies will assist the department and organization develop primary research initiatives focused on the most critical and prioritized research areas.