Faculty Spotlight - Terrah Akard

Vanderbilt University School of Nursing faculty member Terrah Akard recently received funding from the National Institute of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research for a four-year grant in partnership with the Palliative Care Research Cooperative (PCRC).

Recently Funded R01

Impact of a PCRC-Supported Legacy Intervention in Pediatric Palliative Care

Summary

Use Facebook to recruit children with advanced or relapsed cancer and test a web-based tool so they can create electronic storyboards reflecting their lives. This grant is specifically targeted to children between the ages 7 and 17 who have cancer that does not respond to treatment or who are dealing with a cancer relapse.

Purpose

To help children and their parents better cope and adjust to difficult health conditions and add to the greater body of pediatric palliative care and end of life knowledge

Principal Investigator: Terrah Foster Akard, PhD, RN, CPNP

Research interests include:

• Psychosocial interventions to reduce suffering and improve quality of life in pediatric palliative care populations.
• Relationships among continuing bonds, grief, and coping in bereaved families who experience the death of a child.
• Web-based recruitment and intervention delivery methods that are feasible, cost-effective, and acceptable to pediatric palliative care populations.

Co-investigators (R21): Mary S. Dietrich, PhD, MS; Debra L. Friedman, MD; and Mary Jo Gilmer, PhD, MBA, RN-BC, FAAN