2021; Volume 22, No 10, October
Members’ Impact
If you have an achievement of note—recently published article, book, award, new program established, etc.—that you wish to share with your IAHPC colleagues, please contact Genevieve Napier.
Dr. William Rosa is the lead author of a research article, Optimizing the Global Nursing Workforce to Ensure Universal Palliative Care Access and Alleviate Serious Health-Related Suffering Worldwide, published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management in July.
The aims were to summarize palliative nursing contributions to PC access, identify emerging nursing roles, and promote nursing leadership development to enhance universal access to PC.
The study concludes that these goals can be achieved by “[s]trategic investments in international and interdisciplinary collaboration, as well as policy changes and the safe expansion of high-quality nursing care.”
Dr. Scott Murray paired with Jordi Amblàs to write about how Palliative Care Is Increasing, but Curative Care Is Growing Even Faster in the Last Months of Life, which appeared in the Life & Times section of the British Journal of General Practice after first being published in July 2021 in BJGP Life. The article speaks about: planned care, and how the change from curative to palliative care is becoming less abrupt; and the over-medicalization of death. It concludes that “low-value, high-cost care can cause much suffering” that early palliative care can prevent or ameliorate.
In August, BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care published an article by a team of researchers, led by Hammoda Abu-Odah, on Global Palliative Care Research (2002-2020): Bibliometric review and mapping analysis. The review of 19,199 articles identified seven clusters of research: heart failure and cancer prognosis, nursing home, pain and symptoms management, PC knowledge and attitudes, quality improvement of services, PC ethics, and the ongoing assessment of PC services. It concludes that PC research about noncancer diseases needs to expand, and “[m]ore international and cross-institutional cooperation [especially between high- and lower-income countries] is required to address more global PC issues.”
Dr. Gary Rodin is part of a team of researchers, led by Dr. Madeline Li, whose study protocol was published in July in BCM Palliative Medicine. The Medical Assistance in Dying in Patients with Advanced Cancer and Their Caregivers: A mixed methods longitudinal study protocol “is designed to determine the prevalence, predictors, and experience of the DD [desire for death], requests for MAiD [medical assistance in dying], and MAiD completion in patients with advanced or metastatic cancer and the impact of these outcomes on their primary caregivers.” The study is specific to Canada, which established legal criteria for MAiD in 2016.
Links to IAHPC programs mentioned above: Global Consensus-Based Palliative Care Definition, COVID-19 Briefing Notes, and Global Palliative Care Database. Also read the IAHPC Position Statement on Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide.
Members in This Month’s Newsletter
The IAHPC leadership would like to thank the many members who participated in stories and columns in this month’s newsletter.
Policy & Advocacy
- Simone Cernesi (Italy), member since 2017, translated and supported the Global Consensus-Based Palliative Care Definition, participated in the COVID-19 Briefing Notes, and Global Palliative Care Database pilot.
- Galina Khemlina (USA) has been a member since 2020.
- Juan Pablo Leiva (Spain) has been a member since 2021.
- Gulnara Kunirova (Kazakhstan) has been a lifetime member since 2015.
- Felicia Knaul (USA) has been a lifetime member since 2018.
Photo Contest
- Martin Lankoandé (Burkina Faso), member since 2017, supported the Global Consensus-Based Palliative Care Definition.
- Tonny Mwabury (Lesotho) has been a member since 2019.
- Farah Anil Joseph (Pakistan) has been a member since 2020.
IAHPC News
- Stephen Connor (USA), member since 2007, supported the Global Consensus-Based Palliative Care Definition and participated in the COVID-19 Briefing Notes.
Featured Story
- Eve Namisango (Uganda), member since 2013, participated in the COVID-19 Briefing Notes.
Meet our Lifetime Members
- Victoria Hewitt (UK) has been a lifetime member since 2021.
- International Neuropalliative Care Society (USA) has been a lifetime member since 2021.
List of Members
A list of individuals who joined, or renewed their membership with, IAHPC during the past month.
Membership renewals
| Name | Country |
|---|---|
| Jan Phillips | Australia |
| Madeleine Juhrmann | Australia |
| Phuntsho Om | Bhutan |
| LANKOADE Martin | Burkina Faso |
| Gregorio Zuniga Villanueva | Canada |
| Diane A. Dykeman-Sabado | Dominican Republic |
| Gerardo Arturo Orellana | El Salvador |
| Maria Dionysi Galilee Palliative Care Unit | Greece |
| Hammoda Abu-Odah | Hong Kong SAR, China |
| Eva Paoletti | Italy |
| Harre Haren Ramasamy | Malaysia |
| Sheriza Izwa Zainuddin | Malaysia |
| Bhawna Wagle | Nepal |
| Farah Anil | Pakistan |
| Carlo Miguel Matanguihan | Philippines |
| Shannon Odell | South Africa |
| Lucy Watts | United Kingdom |
New members
| Name | Country |
|---|---|
| Gloria Pavey | Australia |
| End-of-Life Care Research Group Vrije Universiteit Brussel & Ghent University, Belgium | Belgium |
| Julia Wildish | Canada |
| Shitsundzuxo Shane Chauke | South Africa |
| Hilary Grey | South Africa |
| Christine Schaeffer | United States |
| Ramya Sampath | United States |
See the full list of IAHPC members
