Dear Colleague:
Help the Hospices and the Association of Children's Hospice held a workshop, the first of its kind, in March this year to look at issues around children's hospice and palliative care worldwide.
The purpose of the workshop this year on international children's issues was to facilitate shared learning and understanding on the possibilities for international collaboration on children's issues,
and to identify a tangible plan of action. The workshop was inspired by the seminar convened by Help the Hospices, of National Hospice and Palliative Care Associations in The Hague in April 2003,
which highlighted issues relevant to children's hospices and services worldwide.
Help the Hospices in partnership with the Association of Children's Hospices (ACH) and the Association for Children
with Life- Threatening or Terminal Conditions (ACT) have been taking forward work on the action points proposed at the workshop, and Barbara Gelb (CEO of ACH) and myself will be presenting on the
programme of work at the Children's Hospice International 16th World Congress in Edinburgh, in September.
We would be interested to hear from National Hospice and Palliative Care Associations on the following areas:
- Do you have children's hospices and palliative care services amongst your membership? Would these children's hospices
and palliative care services be interested in 'twinning'/ 'linking up' with children's hospices and services in the UK etc? We are working to produce a Global Directory of Children's Hospice
and Palliative Care Services, and a 'vignette compilation' of hospices and services globally
- Is there a section/department within your national association specifically committed to dealing with children's
hospice and palliative care issue, and undertaking work in these aspects?
- If yes, we would be interested to learn more about your work, priorities, what are the main issues for you etc
- If no, is this something your organisation is looking into, or would be interested in engaging with others, with
a view to future work etc?
-
Would your National Association be interested in helping to develop a Global Children's Hospice
and Palliative Care resource website (with the aim of facilitating global networking) - initial thoughts are that this website would promote information exchange through fact sheets, enable access
to the latest research, provide modified chat rooms and focus groups, e-learning modules, enable the sharing of best practice, standards, policies etc
We look forward to hearing from you.
With best wishes
Jennie
Jennie McDowall
Major Projects Support Officer
Help the Hospices
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7520 8220
Fax: +44 (0)20 7278 1021
Individuals wishing to receive a pdf copy of the report (Every child is my child), may contact Ms. McDowall by e-mail at: [email protected]
“Every child is my child”
A report of the workshop - Hospice services for children around the world
3 March 2004
Hospice House, London
