2019; Volume 20, No 10, October
Grants in Action
IAHPC asks recipients of its $2,000 USD Traveling Scholarship grants to write a report of the events they attend. These excerpts are from grantees who attended the Oceanic Palliative Care Conference (OPCC) held in Australia in September.
New Knowledge Used to Update Nurses’ Skills
Dr. M.K.S. Lalitha Meegoda, Senior Lecturer, Department of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Listening to the sessions, presentations, and panel discussions, I realized that palliative care is well developed in Australia and most of the other countries represented at the conference. However, in Sri Lanka we are trying to establish a good palliative care service, and are having meetings to discuss its development. At present, we have begun palliative care education for nurses at the undergraduate level, as an elective subject.
The updated knowledge and skills learned at the conference will help me change my teaching in the university. It has also motivated me to do further research in the field of palliative care.
I sometimes teach nurses in major hospitals in Sri Lanka ways to enhance their palliative care practices. With the experience gained at the conference, I can improve care for needy people in palliative care settings, through the nurses. I also attend some meetings to develop palliative care services in Sri Lanka; I can now contribute more fruitfully.
Poster: PRECEDE-PROCEED Model to Implement and Evaluate the Process of an Educational Intervention for Nurses on Cancer Palliative Care.
Sunil De Silva met up with some former classmates at the Oceanic conference.
OPCC A Strong Driver to Develop Education and Research
B. Sunil S. De Silva, Senior Lecturer in Nursing, Open University of Sri Lanka; PhD candidate, University of New Mexico, USA
Pilyandala, Sri Lanka
Palliative care in Sri Lanka is still in an early stage of development. The education and advocacy that result from new skills and knowledge acquired from the conference can drive further development of palliative care education and research for Sri Lankan nurses. It will also help to develop the specialty of palliative care in Sri Lanka, which is not yet properly practiced within the Sri Lankan health care system.
Poster: Breaking Bad News: The role of the pediatric nurse in Sri Lanka.
Where Marketing Meets Palliative Care
Jennifer Lowe, PhD candidate, La Trobe University
Melbourne, Australia
As a PhD candidate in public health with a background in marketing, my research focuses on community awareness of and consumer engagement with palliative care.
The challenges facing Australians at the end of life include a lack of awareness about the palliative care services available, how to access them, and what the benefits are. The formation of a strategic marketing campaign and implementation of high-quality marketing communications targeted at specific market segments is a promising and fruitful avenue for overcoming these challenges.
With an albeit limited understanding of the international challenges in palliative care, I believe there is a place for the formal function of marketing to improve global public awareness of how palliative care can help people, families, and communities.
Although I gained valuable insights from fellow delegates whilst presenting my poster and from international keynote speakers over the course of the conference, the most immediate benefits from attending the conference were an expanded research network and an increased number of industry contacts. This included fellow marketing professionals and key stakeholders from national and state-based palliative care bodies and local governments.
Poster: Marketing & Palliative Care: The Perfect Match?
To find out more about IAHPC’s Program Support Grants, and our Traveling Scholarships and Traveling Fellowships, please visit our website. Through these programs we support projects and individuals around the world, especially in developing countries in Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
You can contribute to this program and help palliative care workers attend and participate in congresses and courses by donating to the Traveling Scholarships Campaign in the Global Giving website.