2019; Volume 20, No 1, January
Announcements & Resources
Each month, we publish a selection of items that may be of interest to our global readership. Contributions are welcomed; we reserve the right to edit content.
- Content should describe opportunities to advance palliative care and improve knowledge, skills, and networking, e.g., education and training, travel grants, access to online resources, etc.
- 150 words maximum.
- Copy deadline: 20th of each month.
- Please submit your copy to the editor together with any JPEG images. We reserve the right to edit content.
Please also consider promoting your education and training events in the IAHPC Global Directory of Education in Palliative Care. It’s quick and easy — just submit your content online.
Reader Recommended
All people need be treated with a non-conceptual compassion — the genuine and lovely wish to help and liberate all human beings from suffering.
— Guillermo Eduardo Aréchiga Ornelas MD
Palliative care specialist, Guadalajara, Mexico
Do you have words of wisdom or a website, organization, article, book, blog, podcast, or quote you want to share with others involved in palliative care? Send them to the Newsletter editor at [email protected].
Announcements
Distance Ed: Advanced Palliative Care Course
January 20 is the deadline to apply for a six-month Fellowship in Palliative Care distance education course supplemented with contact sessions, based on principles for adult learners.
The objective of the program is to deliver a good-quality training program, affordable to participants from low- and middle-income countries. A ‘highly subsidized’ registration fee of Rs 1500 ($US 25) applies to candidates of the pioneer batch of learners.
The course, which begins on 11 February 2019, is being run by the Institute of Palliative Medicine in Calicut, India, at the request of the World Health Organization as part of its Collaborating Centre for Community Participation in Palliative Care and Long-Term Care. The course was developed in partnership with Sanjeevan Palliative Care Project, Pondicherry, India, and St. Christopher’s Hospice, London, UK.
The Fellowship Program aims to create a group of palliative care workers with an in-depth knowledge of core issues in organizing palliative care at the grassroots level, well versed in recent advances and challenges in palliative care and community participation regionally, nationally, and globally.
Target participants include:
- program managers of health care projects
- palliative care trainers
- social workers in palliative care
- non-clinical volunteers/staff/paid carers
- health care advocacy groups
- doctors/nurses who want to further explore non-medical aspects of palliative care
- anyone interested in learning about setting up palliative care services
A limited number of scholarships/travel bursaries partly or fully supporting the cost of the course and related travel costs are available. Application forms for a bursary are available by contacting [email protected].
Applications Open for Leadership Course in Europe
Are you a palliative care expert who wants to make a difference and is looking for an advanced international training opportunity in palliative care?
The European Palliative Care Academy Leadership Course is structured to help develop theoretical knowledge and skills in the fields of personal and project development, teamwork, research, and advocacy.
The deadline to apply is 9 June 2019 for a course that begins in September. The course spans four weeks over three years (2019-2021); each week takes place in a different country (Germany, the UK, Poland, Romania).
The course fee is 2000€ for low-income European countries, 3000€ for high-income European countries, and 6000€ for non-European countries; the fee does not cover travel or accommodation. Participants can apply for a scholarship or travel grant; preference is given to those from Eastern European countries.
Applicants must:
- be a specialist active in palliative care
- have 3 years of work experience
- have shown initiative as a palliative care advocate or expert
- have a good working knowledge of English
- be prepared to work on a personal project
- be prepared to do observational work once back home
The European Palliative Care Academy is a joint project of: the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany; King’s College London, Cicely Saunders Institute, UK; Nicolaus Copernicus University Toruń, Poland; and Hospice Casa Sperantei, Brasov, Romania.
It is implemented in collaboration with the European Association for Palliative Care. To apply, or for more information, visit www.eupca.eu.
Registration Open for Asia-Pacific Conference
Registration is open for the 13th Asia Pacific Hospice Conference being held in Surabaya, Indonesia, from 1-4 August 2019. ‘Bringing Hope to Those in Despair’ is the theme; there are six plenary speakers: Professors Marie Bakitas, Josephine Clayton, David Currow, David Hui, Suresh K. Reddy, and Dr. Joanne Lynn.
Early-bird registration ends on 31 March 2019. The cost ranges from $USD200 for non-doctors from developing countries to a maximum of $USD600 for doctors from developed countries. The price rises by $USD50 between 1 April and 1 July, than again by another $USD50 at the door. Accommodations are not included.
A total of eight pre-conference workshops, payable individually, take place on 1 August 2019 and cost either $USD100 for a half-day workshop or $USD200 for a full-day workshop. Three are conducted in Bahasa, one in Chinese.
For more information, please visit the conference website or email [email protected].
Every aspect of the logo has an intention: the pair of hands represent caring comprehensively; the butterfly is beautiful but fragile, like palliative patients; the five hearts represent patients’ five needs — biological, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual; the colors — purple, white, and gold — represent generosity, optimism, and success.
Resources
AJPH Publishes Special Section on Pain Management
In the January 2019 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, a special section on pain management comprises pages 30 through 72. It is introduced in ‘Pain Management and Public Health: Introduction to the Special Section’ by lead author Daniel B. Carr and three co-authors.
The compendium includes the article, ‘Solving the Global Crisis in Access to Pain Relief: Lessons From Country Actions,’ whose lead author is Afsan Bhadelia. Co-authors include IAHPC Executive Director Liliana de Lima.
The other articles are:
- Pain Management and Opioid Regulation: Continuing Public Health Challenges
- The Global Burden of Musculoskeletal Pain—Where to From Here?
- The Socioeconomic Burden of Pain From War
- Evidence-Based Pain Management Building on the Foundations of Cochrane Systematic Reviews
- Cannabis for Chronic Pain: Not Ready for Prime Time
- Quantifying the Adequacy of Opioid Analgesic Consumption Globally: An Updated Method and Early Findings
- Access to Pain Management as a Human Right
- The Strengths and Weaknesses of Current US Policy to Address Pain
In addition, the issue includes, ‘Where Is the Opioid Use Epidemic in Mexico? A Cautionary Tale for Policymakers South of the US–Mexico Border.’
Access all articles here.
Reader Recommended
My favorite website is the Palliative Care Network of Wisconsin’s Fast Facts and Concepts: www.mypcnow.org/fast-facts
As an advanced practice nurse, consultant, and educator, I reference this website for my own practice, to my palliative care colleagues, and my students. The access is free of charge, the information is current, and hundreds of topics are covered. This information is offered freely as part of a commitment to ‘advance the knowledge and skills of all health professionals providing care for seriously ill patients.’
— Caroline Boaz, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, ACHPN,
Administrator/APRN, Regional Hospice and Palliative Care, Danbury, Connecticut, USA.
Do you have words of wisdom or a website, organization, article, book, blog, podcast, or quote you want to share with others involved in palliative care? Send them to the Newsletter editor at [email protected].
CaringBridge a Way to Coordinate Care
Last year we told you about Lotsa Helping Hands, a free, online way to coordinate caregivers and dispense updates on your loved one’s health or progress to everyone concerned at once. This year, we found CaringBridge, another grassroots-born nonprofit organization dispensing the same type of services that is also U.S.-based (but can be used internationally), also available free of charge.
CaringBridge is available both as a mobile app or computer app.
‘In 1997, good friends of mine had a premature baby, and they asked me to let everyone know what was happening,’ says founder Sona Mehring. ‘Instead of making dozens of emotional and time-consuming phone calls, I decided to create a website. The same night their baby Brighid was born, so was the idea that became CaringBridge.
‘Since 1997, more than 740,000 CaringBridge websites have been created... [O]ur reach extends to 235 countries and territories around the world.
What’s New in the IAHPC Calendar of Events
American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) Annual Assembly Hospice & Palliative Care, 13-16 March 2019, Orlando, Florida, USA
Mayo Clinic, Principles of Pain Management and Palliative Care Conference, 18-22 March 2019, Palm Desert, California, USA
29th Annual Minnesota Network of Hospice & Palliative Care Conference, 14-16 April 2019, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) National Seminar 2019, 14-16 November 2019, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Find the workshop, seminar, congress, or conference that speaks to you in the IAHPC Calendar of Events, updated monthly, that lists activities of special interest to those who work in palliative care. Or submit an event for consideration; it’s free!
