A planning committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will organize and host a 1.5-day public workshop to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on serious illness care and consider lessons learned and future directions, with specific focus on health care access, health equity, and innovative responses to care in the context of the pandemic.

The workshop will feature invited presentations and panel discussions on topics that may include:
Delivery of person-centered, family-oriented care

• Key role of palliative care teams during the pandemic
• Role of caregivers and impact on caregivers’ physical, emotional and mental health
• Specific learnings from different care models in various care settings (e.g., hospital-based palliative care, care at home, and in the community)
• Use of telehealth and impact on access to care

Clinician-Patient-Family communication and advance care planning

• Use of technology to connect family members to patients
• Use of serious illness communication guides to train non-palliative care specialist health care professionals

Professional education and development

• Use of technology support and remote applications to quickly train health care professionals
• Collaboration between palliative care teams and ICU/Emergency Department staff

Policies and payment systems

• Telehealth supported by flexibility in payment
• The need for better alignment between health care and social care

Public education and engagement

• How to communicate effectively and engage the public in advance care planning
• Addressing grief/bereavement on large scale in the U.S.

The planning committee will develop the agenda for the workshop, select speakers and discussants, and moderate the discussions. A proceedings of the presentations and discussions at the workshop will be prepared by a designated rapporteur in accordance with institutional guidelines.