New Grants Are Pushing Psychedelic Therapy Into End of Life Care
A new grant program is channeling more than half a million dollars into psychedelic therapies for patients nearing the end of life. The nonprofit Healing Hearts Changing Minds Inc. (HHCM) launched the initiative, called Walking Each Other Home. Seven organizations across the country received a combined $566,260 to advance research and training in this emerging field.
New:Â Get Pre-Screened for a Psychedelic Clinical Trial
| Key Takeaway | Details |
|---|---|
| Total Funding | $566,260 awarded to seven organizations |
| Lead Organization | Healing Hearts Changing Minds Inc. (HHCM) |
| Focus Areas | Psilocybin trials, ketamine therapy, hospice staff training, spiritual care |
| Notable Grantees | Mayo Clinic, University of Washington, Red Willow Hospice |
| Target Populations | Brain tumor patients, rural communities, homebound hospice patients |
| Core Goal | Build safety infrastructure and reimbursement pathways for psychedelic care |
Looking for treatment? Find ketamine clinics closest to you as well as other psychedelic therapies in your area.
Why This Funding Matters Now
Psychedelic therapies have shown promise in reducing existential distress for terminally ill patients. But the field still lacks standardized safety protocols and clear payment pathways. HHCM founder Robert Ansin framed the urgency plainly: patients with terminal diagnoses deserve every ethical tool available. The grants aim to build the guardrails and evidence base that will make these treatments viable at scale.
What the Grantees Are Working On
The scope of funded projects is broad. The Mayo Clinic will run a clinical trial studying psilocybin assisted therapy for brain tumor patients. The University of Washington is testing group psilocybin retreats for people with cancer related anxiety and depression. Red Willow Hospice in New Mexico is training staff to deliver ketamine assisted psychotherapy to underserved rural populations.
Perhaps the most ambitious effort pairs End of Life Psychedelic Care (EOLPC) and the Institute for Rural Psychedelic Care (IRPC) with Ligare. Together they are piloting a home based ketamine and spiritual care model across Atlanta, Chicago and Humboldt County, California. Each site will pair palliative medicine physicians with spiritual care providers to treat homebound patients.
The Reimbursement Problem
Christine Caldwell, founder of EOLPC, pointed to a gap that threatens sustainability. Providers today lack reimbursement structures for spiritual care integrated with psychedelic treatment. Without payment pathways and standardized clinical protocols, scaling these programs remains difficult. Her pilot is designed to address that gap head on, building a pragmatic model that other hospice programs could eventually replicate.
This wave of funding signals growing institutional confidence in psychedelic medicine at the end of life. For the patients and families navigating terminal illness, these grants represent something tangible: new options rooted in compassion, backed by research and built with safety in mind.
