Aided by a $9.6 million grant from a Minnesota foundation, Minneapolis' Abbott Northwestern Hospital will test a new approach to end-of-life care for hundreds of Twin Cities patients with Alzheimer's disease, heart failure and late-stage cancer.

Four hundred to 500 patients age 65 and older will participate, the hospital announced this past weekend.

The study will be funded by a $9.6 million grant from the Robina Foundation.

"This work will affect numerous lives," Dr. Penny Wheeler, chief clinical officer for Allina Hospitals and Clinics, said in a statement.

Researchers will offer patients who have only six months to two years to live around-the-clock access to primary-care doctors, nurses, social workers and other staffers.

The patients, their families and staff members will share access to medical records and make joint decisions, focusing on improving not only medical and palliative care, but also quality of life, said Dr. Eric Anderson, medical director of Allina's Palliative Care Services.

Researchers want to bridge the gap between what people want as they approach the end of their lives and what they typically experience. That could lead to such things as their spending more time in their homes before death or maintaining their hobbies, Anderson said.

"It will let the person's own goals guide their care," he said. "We know the goals will be both medical and non-medical."

Patients at Abbott and at two Minneapolis senior care facilities, Walker Methodist and Augustana Care, will participate in the study.

Researchers will design the model, called Late Life Supportive Care, beginning next month. Later in 2012, the research will begin with several dozen patients, Anderson said, with the full-fledged study beginning in January 2013.

Results on the first phase of the study will be available in late 2014, said Allina Hospitals and Clinics spokeswoman Gloria O'Connell.

Corey Mitchell • 612-673-4491