GRANTEE PARTNERS

As the anchor organization for the Arizona End of Life Care Partnership, United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona leads this collaborative effort through its mission to build a thriving community by uniting people, ideas and resources. The Anchor Team provides the connective infrastructure by convening Partners and stakeholders, promoting the work of all Partners, and creating a hub for end-of-life resources. The role of the Anchor Team is to coordinate community actions toward shared measurable outcomes and social change, to break down silos, and to create a sense of true collaboration.

The AZ Coalition is a group of 40+ stakeholders in Arizona working to improve the quality of care and outcomes for people with serious illness. Using data and evidence-based practices to identify areas that will collectively improve advance illness care in Arizona, the AZ Coalition is collaborating with partner Discern Health, part of Real Chemistry, to lead a Best Practices Study. The coalition members have prioritized the development of a home-and community-based palliative care network for integrated patient support and is pursuing funding to begin a design phase followed by implementation and evaluation.

Arizona State Museum (ASM) is the oldest and largest anthropological research facility in the U.S. Southwest, with expansive collections that are exceptional resources for the teaching, study, and understanding of the region’s 13,000-year human history.

From September 10, 2022 – February 25, 2023, EOLCP Partner, Southwest Folklife Alliance, is holding their exhibit at the Arizona State Museum, “Walking Each Other Home: Cultural Practices at End of Life”. With support from the United Way and others, the exhibit held a grand opening event on November 19, 2022 and provides museum visitors with their own copy of the end of life planning document Five Wishes.

With the vision of supporting a compassionate and just community that upholds the worth and dignity of every human being, Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona works to strengthen children, adults, families, and communities. The staff, clients, volunteers, and donors of Catholic Community Services work together to make this vision a reality. The St. Jeanne Jugan Ministry with Elders provides Pastoral Care of the Sick to individuals living in long-term nursing facilities while also engaging in the broader spirituality of aging and end-of-life preparation. CCS provides “Prepare for the Journey” workshops with information on Advance Care Planning and Advance Directives. 

The Dunbar Coalition serves as the governing and stewardship organization for the revival of the Dunbar Pavilion: An African American Art & Culture Center. The mission of the Dunbar Coalition is to create a space that will exhibit the contributions of African-Americans to the development of Southern Arizona and anchor and house programs and organizations that support education, arts, social justice, health, economic well-being, and civic engagement reversing the effects of segregation throughout the region. With the goal of providing health information and resources to the African American community, The Coalition for African-American Health and Wellness promotes and protects the health of Pima County residents. The Coalition provides “Honoring a Life” workshops with information on Advance Care Planning and Advance Directives. 

With the mission of improving the health of the Tucson community through comprehensive, accessible, affordable, quality, and compassionate care, El Rio Health strives to be a national model of excellent healthcare. They focus on positive outcomes and treating the whole person with healthcare that is delivered by compassionate, professionally trained, integrated health teams who give from their hearts to provide world class care. As part of their commitment to professional education and wellness, El Rio has integrated Advance Care Planning workshops into their Employee Value Health Incentive Program. 

With the mission of providing jobs and training for people to gain skills and achieve independence, Goodwill of Southern Arizona provides people the opportunity to reach their potential and contribute to our community. The Goodwill METRO® Youth Program serves youth and young adults, ages 16-24 years, who are seeking employment and education in the community. They assist them with their goals, connect them to resources, provide career pathways, and give a sense of purpose for the future in a safe and accessible setting. In collaboration with Tu Nidito Children and Family Services and the Pima County Juvenile Court Center, the Goodwill METRO® Youth Program provides grief and bereavement support to Opportunity Youth who have identified grief as a significant adverse event in their lives. 

Health Current is the Health Information Exchange (HIE) that helps community partners transform care by bringing together communities and information across Arizona. As the home for the Arizona Advance Directives Registry (AzHDR), there is now a secure location available to complete and store Advance Directive documents for Arizonans so that end-of-life care will be guided by one’s wishes. The AzHDR is available at no cost and offers easy access for healthcare providers and facilities at the time of medical need. The AzHDR website also features educational materials for consumers and professionals on Advance Care Planning and Advance Directives.

With a single mission in mind, to help people in need achieve stable, healthy, and independent lives, ICS works to ensure that older adults and disabled people have transportation, meals, and caregiving services. They work to assist the community gain access to resources, social support, education, housing, employment, food, and healthcare. To provide the space and the tools for individuals and families to assess their lives, anticipate challenging circumstances that might arise, and begin making plans to adapt to potentially complex situations, ICS offers “Honoring Our Lives”. This Advance Care Planning program is presented in free workshops with the goal of preparing people for challenging circumstances such as serious illness, aging, and death. 

The overarching mission of PCOA is to promote dignity and respect for aging and to advocate for independence in the lives of older adults and their families in Pima County. As the leading experts on aging well in Pima County, PCOA provides advocacy and unbiased information for older people and their families so that they can make informed choices and find appropriate solutions. PCOA believes that part of living well is planning for end of life. They offer a robust list of end-of-life resources on their website and via their helpline as well as one-on-one coaching, end-of-life family conversation facilitation, bilingual community education, and end-of-life presentations, all at no cost. 

The mission of the Pima County Juvenile Court Center (PCJCC) is to ensure that children are protected, youth are rehabilitated, and the community is safe by administering timely and impartial justice and providing innovative services. In collaboration with Tu Nidito Children and Family Services and Goodwill of Southern Arizona, PCJCC is committed to increasing knowledge and enhancing procedures to facilitate the referral process to bereavement support services for youth who are involved in the juvenile justice system.

Roots & Roads Community Hospice Foundation provides financial support to hospice patients for housing, caregiving, food, and other essential needs, and offers innovative and responsive end-of-life community education. With support from the United Way and others, Roots & Roads is developing a new online resource called The Crosswalk.  This resource will empower community members with the tools necessary to ask important questions, locate needed resources, and connect to supportive organizations. From initial diagnosis to treatment decisions; advanced care planning to palliative and hospice care services; all the way through bereavement support, The Crosswalk provides information so that everyone can benefit regardless of where they are on their healthcare journey.

The vision for SEAGO is for residents of Southeastern Arizona (Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, and Santa Cruz Counties) to engage in ongoing Advance Healthcare Planning so that their wishes are communicated and honored. Through collaboration and education, resources are provided to prepare individuals to make informed advance healthcare planning choices that are consistent with their values and beliefs. Working with individuals, college students, healthcare professionals, and organizations, including faith-based organizations and libraries, free workshops and lectures are provided as well as one-to-one assistance for completing Advance Directives.

Southern Arizona Senior Pride recognizes and responds to the unique concerns of LGBTQI+ older adults who are 55+ and their younger allies. They serve Southern Arizona by providing social and support programming sponsored by Senior Pride in three areas: Social & Learning, Health & Wellbeing, and Arts and Culture; vetting and sharing LGBTQI+ welcoming information & services offered by other organizations in the community; and increasing awareness of LGBTQI+ aging issues. Senior Pride provides support to LGBTQI+ older adults for advance medical care planning. Their goal is to encourage everyone to talk about and document what’s important so that they can live well and end well. Senior Pride offers free “Honoring a Life” community workshops that provide education and insight about advance healthcare topics and documents. 

Southwest Folklife Alliance (SFA) strives to build more equitable and vibrant communities by celebrating the everyday expressions of culture, heritage, and diversity rooted in the Greater Southwest and U.S. Mexico Border Corridor. Nationally, they amplify models and methods of meaningful cultural work that center traditional knowledge, social equity, and collaboration. The End-of-Life Continuum project at SFA shares cultural knowledge about traditions, expressions, and practices associated with end of life, grief, mourning and death in Southern Arizona’s folk, ethnic, occupational, faith-based, and alternative communities. One such project focuses on documenting the lives of end-of-life caregivers and aims to amplify stories and methods of end-of-life caregivers in order to demystify their work, share best cultural practices, reduce stigma, and connect audiences to end-of-life care planning options. 

Step Up to Justice (SU2J) is a full-service free civil legal center for low-income individuals and families in Pima County powered by the talents of volunteer attorneys and the efficient use of technology and funding. As a public service by private citizens, SU2J harnesses the energy of volunteer attorneys and channels that resource to members of the community who need, but cannot afford, legal services. They deliver uplifting and affirmative experiences to all stakeholders and help them navigate a complicated legal system. SU2J provides end-of-life planning that generates accurate and individualized documents for low-income community members. 

Tu Nidito exists to create a community of acceptance and understanding for children and families experiencing grief. Their vision is that no child grieves alone. Tu Nidito specializes in providing free-of-charge emotional support to children, teens, young adults, and families impacted by the diagnosis of a serious medical condition or death of someone special. Tu Nidito provides individual and group support so that grieving families can share their stories, memories, experiences, and feelings with others who are going through a similar situation. Tu Nidito provides bereavement education and support for a collaborative project with the Pima County Juvenile Justice Center and Goodwill of Southern Arizona for work with Opportunity Youth who have self-identified that grief has significantly impacted their lives. 

With the mission of providing exceptional healthcare with compassion, Tucson Medical Center aspires to serve the community by being the best health system as measured by the quality of the care delivered, the experiences created, and the value that they bring. TMC strives to provide patient-directed care that is informed by best evidence of clinical benefit (Goal Concordant Care). TMC provides healthcare provider and staff education focused on the importance of honoring Advance Care Planning, the role of skilled goals-of-care discussions in urgent clinical situations, and the benefit of comfort care as a treatment option. In the Emergency Department, trained clinical staff provide care and guidance for patients with serious illness or in the dying process to discover and document goal concordant care wishes. 

UAHS is working on an initiative called “Interprofessional End of Life Care Training Partnership at UA Health Sciences”, a cross-sector group of professionals are focusing on developing an end-of-life curriculum for University of Arizona healthcare professionals. The goals of this curriculum development effort are three-fold:

• Transforming cultural attitudes toward aging, serious illness, death, and dying among UA health professional students and faculty by developing patient-centered education.
• Ensuring that every health professional student graduating from the UAHS will have basic competency in serious illness and end-of-life care; and
• Creating a cadre of healthcare professionals who promote advance care planning.

Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA)

Casa de la Luz Foundation

El Rio RN Advance Care Planning Project

Tohono O’odham Nursing Care Authority