2019; Volume 20, No 5, May
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.
Announcements
AECPAL Recommendations for PC Training of Nurses
The Spanish Association of Palliative Care Nursing (Asociación Española de Enfermería en Cuidados Paliativos, or AECPAL) has released a 44-page document, available for download as a PDF, of recommendations for the training of palliative care nurses.
The title of the monograph, published in March 2019, is Recomendaciones de la Asociación Española de Enfermería en Cuidados Paliativos. Sobre la formación de Grado en Enfermería.
The information is aimed at universities and other post-secondary schools; it was compiled by AECPAL after it discovered that there were large discrepancies between training programs at different institutions, in both duration and content.
The document has four main sections, including:
- goals of palliative care nursing
- competencies to acquire
- a teacher profile (desirable characteristics of faculty members who teach palliative care nursing)
Great Idea! Donated Travel Points Reunite Loved Ones at the End of Life
Thanks to the donation of travel loyalty points, a Canadian not-for-profit group in Calgary has arranged for flights for more than 550 families and loved ones, so that they can reconnect face-to-face with those they love who are approaching the end of life, or who are critically ill.
Give A Mile was established in 2014 by Kevin Crowe to help those without the financial resources to travel to be with their loved ones. Kevin spent a lot of time visiting a close friend with cancer in hospice and, after his friend died, began thinking of those who, for lack of money, did not have the opportunity to do the same. He set up the all-volunteer organization so that every mile, and every dollar, goes to those in need. (Cash donations pay for taxes on the flights.)
As this is a Canadian charity, one stipulation is that flights must be in Canada, to Canada, or for a Canadian flying to a loved one in another country. But the founder is happy to help others develop the idea in their country or state.
International chapters welcomed
‘We need passionate leaders who would like to start a Give A Mile chapter in their country or state,’ says Crowe. ‘If that is you please email us at [email protected].’
To date, Give A Mile recipients have flown to all inhabited continents. The charity has partnered with 14 reward programs, including Aeroplan. According to Yvonne Dewar of Give A Mile, the process for receiving a flight is straightforward:
- The person who needs to travel to see friends or family who are in palliative care creates a profile that describes their story, and where they need to go.
- The attending physician, nurse practitioner, registered nurse or social worker, gives confirmation of the diagnosis.
- Give A Mile’s flight review team assesses the information. If approved, ive A Mile posts the story online so that donors can target their loyalty miles.
The minimum single donation is 1,000 air miles. There is also a general pool of donated miles from both individuals and businesses. Give A Mile prioritizes these miles for applicants where timing is critical. If the situation is urgent, a flight can be arranged less than 24 hours after approval is given. Necessary travel documents, such as a passport or visa, are the responsibility of the traveller.
See www.giveamile.org for more information.
Funding for International Pediatric Pain Research
The Canadian government has announced a $1.6-million grant, over four years, for Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP), a new knowledge mobilization network to improve children’s pain management in Canada and around the world. Its mission is ‘to improve children’s pain management by mobilizing evidence-based solutions through coordination and collaboration.’
‘Children experience pain that is preventable and undertreated,’ said Dr. Christine Chambers, a children’s pain researcher and SKIP’s scientific director. ‘This grant will be a game-changer for children in pain and their families as it will ensure that our research findings get out of the medical journals and into the hands of people who can use them.’
SKIP will be based at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, and will include more than 100 Canadian and international partners working together to put evidence-based solutions to child pain into practice.
Resources
Reader Recommended
Medical Education International, a U.S.-based ministry of Christian medical and dental associations, will take a team of doctors, nurses, etc. to teach a skill in foreign countries. Recently, a team traveled to India to help open a hospice house.
— Submitted by Dr. Mike Gosey, Tennessee, USA
Do you have a resource that could help others? Send it to the editor: [email protected]
How Hospice Managers Can Support Staff
‘Nurturing the Heart of Hospice: Tools for the workplace’ is an April addition to End-of-Life University’s roster of podcasts. The talk by Brenda Clarkson, a nurse with more than 40 years’ experience of working in hospice, is described as learning ‘how administrators and managers can better support their staff in providing heart-based care to hospice patients.’
Clarkson shares her model for returning to the roots of excellent hospice care while navigating today’s regulatory challenges as outlined in her book The Heart of Hospice: Core Competencies for Reclaiming the Mystery.
Resources for Advance Care Planning
National Healthcare Decisions Day aims to ensure that families and health care providers can navigate difficult health care decisions, in the absence of guidance from the patient, through advance directives.
‘Advance directives give you the ability to document the types of health care you do and do not want, and to name a loved one to speak for you if you cannot speak for yourself,’ said Nathan Kottkamp, Chair of National Healthcare Decisions Day, which took place on 16 April 2019.
The annual campaign is a U.S.-based collaborative effort that encourages people to think about:
- which medical treatments they would want
- what is meaningful to them (i.e., being at home with family, etc.)
- who they would want to make decisions about their care if they could not communicate
The initiative also provides information and tools for the public to talk about their wishes, including the Conversation Starter Kit, How to Choose a Health Care Proxy, and How to Talk to Your Doctor. These resources are available here.
U.S. Family Support Card
The National Institute of Nursing Research, based in the U.S., has created a Family Support Card intended as a resource for those working in pediatric palliative care. The card, available in English and Spanish, has information about different types of support that families may want to access, such as sibling support, respite care, and school resources.
You can view the card here.
The NINR accepts requests to send cards to organizations in the U.S., as well as U.S. military bases and embassies for their use. Write to [email protected] and specify quantity and language. Don’t forget to add your street mailing address!
New in the Calendar
- Nova Scotia Provincial Palliative Care Conference, 2-3 May 2019, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- ELNEC [End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium] Summit, 29-31 July 2019, in San Diego, California, USA
- Dignity Therapy Training Workshop, 2-4 October 2019 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- ELNEC [End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium] Summit, 24-25 October 2019 in Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA
- X Congreso Latinoamericano de Cuidados Paliativos, ‘La transformación del Arte de Cuidar,’ 25-28 March 2020 in San Jose, Costa Rica
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!
