2014; Volume 15, No 2, February
Acknowledgements
IAHPC recognition awards 2013.
The IAHPC designated October as our Members’ Recognition Month in order to build awareness and understanding of the vital function that our members play in the advancement of our mission as well as to formally acknowledge their support.
We gave 2 prizes (two Mini iPads™ 32GB Wi-Fi) in the categories “Recognizing loyalty” - for keeping their memberships active and “Increasing membership” for bringing the highest number of new or renewed member.
Increasing Membership Award goes to Grace Kivumbi from Kampala, Uganda.
Grace words “I am currently working with the Makerere Palliative Care Unit (MPCU) based in Mulago hospital as Monitoring and Evaluation Manager. I have a 3 year old daughter and I enjoy listening and dancing to music.
The MPCU multi-disciplinary team, together with 27 nurses from across Mulago hospital who have been trained in the provision of generalist Palliative Care, and a team of 15 energetic and committed volunteers provide care to patients and their families.
I have known about IAHPC since my time at Hospice Africa Uganda, working with the distance learning programs and I have seen IAHPC support students from across Africa to undertake these programs so they can make a difference is the lives of the patients that they see in their countries.
Through our collaborations with IAHPC we were able to run a first ever successful advanced research school in palliative care which was a big boost to palliative care research in Africa.
My team members have been supported by IAHPC to attend conferences in different parts of the world, here they have learnt and shared about palliative care works and as a result we have had better patient care.
I am proud to be a member of IAHPC, thank you and my God bless you!
Recognizing Loyalty Award goes to Marija Inesa Poniskaitiene from Kaunas, Lithuania
Marija Inesa Poniskaitiene, MD PhD, Lithuania Doctor Honored
I have spent most of my professional career in Kaunas, Lithuania. I started as an internist after graduating from Kaunas Medical Institute in 1961. In addition to clinical work, I have pedagogical experience of 30 years teaching internal diseases in Kaunas Medical Institute. In 1990, I defended my doctoral thesis. In 1993-1994, I began to give lectures on care of terminally ill patients. I prepared 3 manuals with co-workers, 6 methodological publications, about 60 printed articles, many articles and interviews in Lithuanian and foreign press, the most of them were on palliative care.
I began to take an interest in palliative care in early 90s. In 1992-1993, I consulted patients as internist-volunteer. I had an honor to serve as first Medical Director of Kaunas Nursing Hospital during 1993-1998. From the very outset our hospital tried to work according to the principles of palliative care. We were also the first in Lithuania to have a professional assistant of spiritual care in our team. The patients admitted to our hospital are mainly cancer patients in terminal stages and coma patients. In 1993, I became a member of the Hospice Information Service at St. Christopher‘s Hospice in London, and in 1998 an IAHPC member. I am a member of the following Lithuanian associations: Palliative Medicine (since 1995 when it was established), and member of the board; Lithuanian Pain Association and its board; Lithuanian Medical Association.
I participated in many Lithuanian and foreign conferences (Canada, Latvia, Poland). The last one in EAPC Congress in Vienna with two poster presentations.
The IAHPC has been (and continues to be) a very useful networking tool and knowledge base for our daily work. The access to numerous articles and journals made available by the IAHPC as well as its conferences help to improve our knowledge about palliative care which we apply through our daily care activities.
With best regards,
Marija Inesa Poniskaitiene, MD PhD.