2015; Volume 16, No 10, October
Resources
Each month, we publish a limited selection of items that we feel will be of interest to our global readership. Content is welcomed but please observe the criteria for inclusion:
- Content should describe opportunities to advance palliative care and improve knowledge and skills and networking, e.g. education and travel grants, access to online resources, etc.
- 150 words maximum.
- Content must be relevant to a global audience.
- Copy deadline: 21st of each month.
- With more than 8,000 readers from across the world, the IAHPC Newsletter is a great place to share information. To submit information, please email the editor. We reserve the right to edit content.
Palliative Care infographic from WHO
The World Health Organization has published an infographic on palliative care. It is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish!
Unexpected Opportunity
Lynne Saad used her art to reveal her emotions and experiences over the final 18 months of her life as she battled breast cancer. Her work, a collection of poems and paintings, is now published in Unexpected Opportunity. This book, described as “touching, courageous, and surprisingly delightful intimate journey from devastating diagnosis to death … explored in prose and art with honesty, insight and a touch of humor,” will resonate with anyone traveling a similar path, or exploring his or her own mortality.
To receive your own copy, donate a minimum $25 (USD) to the True Family Women’s Cancer Center or the Henry Kaplan Research Fund at Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle. IAHPC members not wishing to make a donation can receive a complimentary copy by emailing [email protected] by November 15, 2015.
Producing Unexpected Opportunity was a collaboration between Lynne’s friends and Swedish Cancer Institute. All donations go wholly to the above beneficiaries.
To learn more, please visit the website or watch this interview with Lynne Saad about her life and work.
Thank you to reader, Craig Abramson, for alerting us to this opportunity.
Quality of Death Index
The London-based Economist Intelligence Unit just released the 2015 Quality of Death Index commissioned by the Lien Foundation. The report found Britain to be the best at palliative care.
"Its ranking is due to comprehensive national policies, the extensive integration of palliative care into the National Health Service, a strong hospice movement, and deep community engagement on the issue," the EIU said.
Britain was followed by Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Belgium and Taiwan.
Palliative care provision was found to be worst in Iraq among the 80 countries studied, with Bangladesh, the Philippines, Nigeria and Myanmar rounding out the bottom five.
The report praised progress made by less wealthy states.
"Many developing countries are still unable to provide basic pain management due to limitations in staff and basic infrastructure," it said. "Yet some countries with lower income levels demonstrate the power of innovation and individual initiative."
It said Panama (31st) was building palliative care into its primary care services, Mongolia (28th) had seen rapid growth in hospice facilities, while Uganda (35th) had made impressive advances in the availability of opioid painkillers.
The full report can be downloaded from here.