Public Health Seminar on 'Action for Palliative Care'
Past attendance records were broken at the 4th International Seminar on Public Health Palliative Care Research held June 18-19, 2025, in Victoria, BC, Canada. More than 15O people attended: the cost of registration was kept low thanks to the University of Victoria (UVic), which offered its venue for free
The biannual seminar is organized by the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) Reference Group on Public Health Palliative Care, alternating with Public Health Palliative Care International's (PHPCI) world conference, which is scheduled for October 6-9, 2026, in Taipei, Taiwan.
Keynotes & Abstracts
The excellent keynote lectures were:
- "Bringing Death Back into Life: The Lancet Commission on the Value of Death." Libby Sallnow, University College London, UK;
- "Relationships and Power: Lessons about cross-sector collaboration and community engagement from an English coastal town." Lucy Selman, University of Bristol, UK;
- "Creating Spaces to Honour Indigenous Knowledge in PC: Addressing the Need for Culturally Safe-r Care for Indigenous Peoples." Holly Prince, Lakehead University, Ontario, Canada; and
- "Public Health Palliative Care for Track 2 MAID: The irony of 11th-hour approaches." Barbara Pesut, University of British Columbia, Canada.
The seminar's abstracts will be published by PHPCI-endorsed SAGE journal Palliative Care and Social Practice. PHPCI supports these seminars, and several of our members presented at various sessions.
This was the first time the EAPC seminar was organized outside of Europe. Its theme was "Innovating Care: Research and Action for Public Health and Palliative Care."
The seminar opened with a sober but very moving welcome by Indigenous elder Dr. Skip Dick in the First Peoples House of the university. Acknowledging the first people on whose territory a conference take place and respecting the historical relationship with the land should be a tradition that all conferences should consider. The wealth of each nation has been built upon generations that have lived on those lands, and the way these first peoples have been treated should not be forgotten. The academic welcome was addressed by Dr. Lisa Kalynchuk, UVic Vice-President Research & Innovation, and the program of the seminar was framed by the chairs of the scientific committee, professors Kelli Stajduhar (UVic) and Hsien Seow (McMaster University).
Equity in access to palliative care was the dominant topic throughout the seminar. Here, public health approaches have to step in to solve the many injustices in our healthcare systems. Upstream public health approaches to palliative care, but also better understanding of the living and dying conditions of underserved people in our societies, need to be more explicitly prioritized in palliative care research. Hence, more research is needed on palliative care in the context of homelessness, refugees, LGBTQ+, etc. Targeted community-based palliative care approaches are the way forward to address these major challenges. The development of culturally safe and culturally sensitive practices also need a lot more attention in palliative care.
MAID (medical aid in dying) has been legalized for almost 10 years in Canada, and Vancouver Island has the highest incidence of MAID in the country. Hence, that subject was also much discussed. Presentations and participants managed to discuss these complex issues of assisted dying with respect, and in a non-emotional and objective way. Integration of MAID into mainstream healthcare and palliative care apparently remains a major challenge in Canada, and a public health approach needs to be developed here too.
Prior to the seminar, a preconference leadership policy meeting was attended by about 40 Canadian leaders in healthcare, palliative care, public health, city policy, provincial policy, and academia. A lecture on public health palliative care sparked great engagement with the audience and lots of interesting debate during the Q&A. The Deputy Prevost of UVic, Dr. Helga Hallgrímsdóttir, expressed interest in the concept and practice of a compassionate university.
I believe that linking such policy meetings to exiting conferences that are attended by world leaders in the field can be highly successful. It allows for mobilization and engagement at multiple levels, whch is a successful model for targeting policymakers. In my opinion, it could be more used in palliative care worldwide.
Read more of this week's issue of Pallinews
Palliative Care in Chile
Even high-income countries have gaps in care. A report by Dr. Alejandra Palma.
Guidance for Policymakers
An introduction to the WHO guideline on controlled medicines, by Professor Julia Downing, who co-chaired its development.
A Trans-Atlantic First
The 2025 International Seminar on Public Health Palliative Care Research, a report by Dr. Luc Deliens.