2019; Volume 20, No 11, November
News & Resources
Global Platform to Measure
Serious Health-Related Suffering
On World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, October 12, a platform to facilitate access to data produced by the Lancet Commission on Global Access to Palliative Care and Pain Relief went live on the IAHPC website. It is a free service available to the global palliative care community.
The database, intended primarily for health researchers and advocates, can be searched by any one of 20 conditions linked to serious health-related suffering. Viewers can see numbers of affected populations by selected country, by clicking on a drop-down menu then rolling the cursor over a world map. The Lancet Commission Implementation Group is now developing a short tutorial to support researchers in their use of this already user-friendly database.
This initiative was developed by the IAHPC together with the University of Miami Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas, and the Mexican Health Foundation.
“The SHS data platform is a resource that can empower and significantly improve the capacity of civil society organizations and policy makers to implement more effective and secure palliative care and pain relief policies and programs to alleviate the suffering of millions of patients and their caregivers around the world,” said Felicia Knaul, Chair of the Lancet report.
IAHPC GlobalGiving Project:
Your donations support
education that reduces suffering
On #GivingTuesday, December 3, IAHPC is appealing for donations to fund education initiatives that help reduce serious health-related suffering in vastly underserved regions. A double incentive is active for those 24 hours only: donations are eligible for a $500,000 matching fund, and donors are eligible for 10 prizes worth a total of $42,000.
An estimated 61 million people around the world live and die with serious health-related suffering each year. Access to palliative care can relieve most of that suffering.
How does your donation to IAHPC ease suffering? It funds access to educational resources for palliative care professionals, other palliative care workers, and informal caregivers that result in better patient care. Specifically:
- $35 gives 2 people online library access to peer-reviewed journals that describe evidence-supported palliative care practices; $50 gives access to 3 people
- $150 supports content development for an online module that can educate thousands of members
- $250 supports palliative care workshop costs for 1 participant
- $500 supports 1 scholarship grantee to travel to an educational event
The goal of GlobalGiving’s #GivingTuesday is to create a massive wave of generosity that lasts well beyond that day, and touches every person on the planet. You can donate before and after the event, frow now until 2020’s #GivingTuesday.
Reminder: Apply now for an IAHPC grant
to the 2020 ALCP Congress in Costa Rica
The International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care will provide Traveling Scholarships to support the travel of palliative care workers to attend the X Latin American Congress of Palliative Care in San José, Costa Rica, from March 25-28, 2020. The deadline to apply is December 15, 2019. Results will be announced in early January.
Application for Traveling Scholarships is open to IAHPC members in good standing. (Not a member? Now is the time to join IAHPC!) Applicants from all disciplines are welcome.
Successful applicants must be current members at the time of the congress to access the award. This program offers funding for travel and registration only; applicants will need to secure funding from other sources to cover additional expenses.
Visit the IAHPC website for detailed information about the application process or to fill out an application form. If you have any questions about how to apply for a Traveling Scholarship, please contact Genevieve Napier, IAHPC Programs Officer at gnapier@iahpc.com.
Preferences will be given to applicants who:
- have not received a grant from IAHPC in the past 3 years.
- have been IAHPC active members for 2 or more consecutive years.
- are affiliated with an institution that is an IAHPC institutional member (see the list of institutional members).
- live in a lower, lower-middle and upper-middle income category country as per the World Bank income classification data.
- are dedicated full-time to palliative care in their current work.
- graduated from university less than 10 years ago.
- have an accepted abstract* for poster or oral presentation (proof of acceptance is required).
- describe in their applications long-term goals that lead to improvements in any or all of the following areas: service provision, education, availability of and access to medicines, public policy.
IAHPC Seeks App Reviewers
IAHPC is seeking volunteers to review apps relevant to palliative care. The reviews will appear in the monthly Newsletter.
A review would describe the app and assess its usefulness, alerting readers to the way it can help in the practice of palliative care, or a particular field within palliative care. Each review would also identify the type of individual, professional, caregiver, or other persons who would benefit the most.
If this interests you, please contact Newsletter editor Alison Ramsey.
15 Free, Online Courses
Newly Created in Australia
The Palliative Care Education Collaborative, consisting of Palliative Care Curriculum for Undergraduates (PCC4U) and the Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA), have launched Palliative Care Education, a series of free, online courses.
The courses are wide in scope: 10 are aimed at undergraduates and their teachers, four target practitioners (GPs, nurses and allied health professionals, mentors, and facilitators), and one concerns end-of-life law in Australia.
Undergraduate courses include: the “Enrolled Nurse Toolkit” and a “Palliative Care Simulation Scenario” for both teachers and students, and six on these specific topics:
- Principles of Palliative Care
- Communicating with People with Life-Limiting Conditions
- Principles of Symptom Assessment and Management
- Assessment and Management of Pain
- Optimizing Function in Palliative Care
- Terminal Care and Bereavement Support
Users must register for a free account to obtain access to the courses.
Free Trial Gives Access
to Hippocratic film
The film Hippocratic: 18 Experiments in Gently Shaking the World is now available on Amazon Prime Video in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada. Amazon offers a one-month free trial on its platform.
This portrait of the “Father of Palliative Care” in India, Dr. M.R. Rajagopal, and the development of this essential service in Kerala has been critically acclaimed. Read Dr. Roger Woodruff’s review in the March 2018 issue of the IAHPC Newsletter here.
Each month, we publish items that may be of interest to our global readership. Contributions are welcomed.
- 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
What’s New in the IAHPC Calendar of Events
The following events were added last month to the IAHPC Calendar of Events.
Australia
- APIC2 – 2nd Asia Pacific Conference on Integrated Care, November 11-13, 2019, Melbourne.
Peru
- III Encuentro de Redes Internacionales de Enfermería en Cuidados Paliativos, November 22-23, 2019, Lima.
- 7th Singapore Palliative Care Conference (SPCC 2020) July 8-11, 2020, Singapore.
- The Annual Assembly of Hospice and Palliative Care, March 18-21, 2020, San Diego, California.
- State of the Science in Hospice and Palliative Care (meeting), March 20-22, 2020, San Diego, California.
- The 2020 Leadership and Advocacy Conference, March 23-27, 2020, National Harbor, Maryland.
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!
