IAHPC helped fund 15 Scholars to attend IAPCON 2025, the 32nd Indian Association of Palliative Care international conference. Every IAHPC Scholar submits a report, such as the ones below.
A group of Commonwealth Scholars—students and alumni—gathered for a photo at IAPCON 2025. Picture provided by Daniel Raj Joseph Thangasamy.
Editor's note: The Indian Journal of Palliative Care has published IAPCON 2025's: poster abstracts and oral presentations, including the ones listed below.
A Connection That Changed the Direction of My Work
At the conference, I expressed my interest to work in humanitarian settings to Dr. Mhoira Leng, who inspired me to become research coordinator of PallCHASE research workgroups. Also, the experts and fellow practitioners I met helped to develop my own research ideas—on sexual health concerns, advance care planning, etc.
Another highlight was serving as an expert panelist in a pre-conference workshop, "Quality Improvement in Palliative Care through Structured Methodology," that equiped participants with practical tools to enhance healthcare delivery.
A discussion on "Audit of Palliative Care Service Provision at a Tertiary Cancer Hospital: Trends and Patterns" provided insights into service utilization gaps in care delivery. Interactions with peers helped identify strategies to optimize resource allocation and enhance access to palliative services.
Oral presentation: "Documentation of Goals of Care Discussion – A Quality Improvement Initiative in a Tertiary Cancer Care Centre." My paper led to a discussion on the standardization of documentation practices, and really brought home the need for proper communication in bringing patient care into alignment with patient preferences.
'Shaping the Future of Research' Was a Revelation
The plenary session “Shaping the Future of Palliative Care Research in India” by Dr. Naveen Salins gave a whole new perspective and ideas for strengthening palliative care research in India. Integrating basic sciences, genetics & genomics, nanotechnology, photonics, AI, and point-of-care technology were totally new to me. As an NGO primarily focused on service delivery, our organization has great potential to engage in implementation research, and a connection made with Dr. Salins is fostering our collaboration.
A session on how psychosocial interventions can enhance care were insightful. Screening for distress, when to refer to a specialist, dealing with substance abuse: experts in the field shared many practical inputs that we can incorporate into our routine palliative care practices.
The Indian Association of Palliative Care decided to conduct a series of workshops on advance care planning (ACP) that I will participate in, to advocate for ACP in my workplace. Karnataka is the first state to enact the Supreme Court’s order on "the right to die with dignity," providing us with an opportunity to work toward effective implementation.
Poster: "Quality of Life and Patient's Satisfaction in Home-Based Palliative Care: An Evaluation." It was a positive learning experience: the judges gave input on improving the study design, and on the analysis of variables affecting the quality of life.
Health Activists & Midwives Could Help Identify Those Needing Care
In the session on advocacy that I attended, I learned that we can build upon advocacy for palliative care by incorporating more activity in the National Program for Palliative Care, in cases where a state policy is not available. We should help our community workers—both accredited social health activists (ASHAs) and auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs)—identify palliative care patients.
I attended a session on availability and access for rational use of medicines: in our institution they are well regulated. Every patient who receives a prescribed opioid must return the empty strips to their next visit to be discarded by us.
A postgraduate exam session gave me new insights on how to prepare for it, and a workshop on using AI in research is helping me manage my time and improve precision. The conference also impressed upon me the great need for research, which can help inform the many people who don't know about palliative care.
Poster: "Myasis: Neglect? Curse? or Cure?" It went well: I got lots of appreciation and feedback.
Psychology Facilitates Quality PC
Sessions on education further cemented my conviction that palliative care education should include all aspects of care, not just the physical. Currently in our institution, each year we have two seats for those with a DNB [Diplomate in National Board] in Palliative Medicine. As a psychologist, I take on the responsibility to educate them about common psychological issues, and how to assess and address these issues. The classes also include role playing to demonstrate common communication skill mistakes, as well as training in basic counselling.
The plenary on research in palliative care helped me to understand common mistakes in the manuscripts that we submitted to several journals that may have led to their rejection. It also helped us to develop a plan to improve the way that we prepare our research.
Oral presentation: "Spiritual Issues among Parents of Pediatric Cancer Patients." The presentation went well, but I would have appreciated more comments to ponder. I think that the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis used was unfamiliar to my peers.
'Learning about Spiritual Pain Changed My Practice'
One of the main takeaways for me was gaining a deeper understanding of the effects of spiritual pain and its direct impact on physical pain. As providers, we need to be aware of spiritual pain, as it can amplify existing physical symptoms. For example, we often see elderly women who, because of collusion, have no knowledge of their cancer diagnosis and are left questioning the cause of their suffering.
This learning has changed my practice. At our centre, we now routinely use the FICA Spiritual History Tool to assess a patient’s spiritual history. Eliciting spiritual history has become essential for both oncological and non-oncological patients.
My thesis is a qualitative study exploring the experiences of pulmonologists in referring patients with noncancer chronic respiratory diseases to palliative care. I appreciated the opportunity to connect with people who could support my research and offer valuable input on how best to proceed.
Poster: "Acute Pain, Personalised and Timely Relief: Role of Patient-Controlled Analgesia in Palliative Care." It was a wonderful experience, and I was honoured to receive third place in the Doctors category, Best Poster Presentation.
Seeking to Add Medical Methadone
I particularly valued sessions on the integration of geriatric assessment in oncology, collaborative research and innovation, and on cross-disciplinary collaboration as the future of palliative care.
Our institution is a licenced Recognized Medical Institution with a constant supply of opioids. I use the medicines rationally, catering to need as required, and am planning to include methadone.
Prior to the conference, I held sessions on palliative care for our department's medical and pediatric oncologists, and short, bedside sessions for medical officers and nursing staff. I began—and am continuing—to train our part-time psychologists to enhance their oncology knowledge and wisdom.
Oral presentation: "Exploring the New Cancer Care Vital Signs in Geriatric Oncology: An Institutional Pilot Study, India." Attendees asked insightful questions, especially around the applicability of my findings in low-resource settings, which led to engaging discussions. One key takeaway is the importance of presenting with clarity and confidence—communicating the "why" behind your work can make a strong impact.
Lessons in How to Strengthen Bonds with Government Officials
My three main takeaways from the conference were: the need to integrate palliative care into healthcare, the holistic nature of palliative care, and importance of recent advancements.
I learned that to strengthen collaboration with government officials, it is important to maintain open communication and align advocacy efforts with their policy priorities. Building trust through consistent engagement, presenting data-driven evidence, and proposing cost-effective ways to integrate palliative care will increase their support. Developing well-researched proposals will help secure government backing and drive meaningful action.
Meeting prominent researchers in the field of palliative care for nephrology patients inspired me to further develop my line of research, also giving me substantial ideas for follow-up projects.
Posters: Author of "Building Palliative-Care Capacity through Palliative-Care Education: An Evaluation of Training of 80 District Hospitals." Co-author of "Attitudes of the Indian General Public to Euthanasia: A Longitudinal and Demographic Analysis." Questions by delegates and jury members who assessed the posters gave me useful ideas that I applied when developing a journal manuscript.
All Regions Need Medicines for Pain Relief
Each State and Union Territory in India needs to provide and make available pain medicines for all government and nongovernment institutions. For me, the conference served to highlight the role of cannabinoids in pain relief, with an emphasis on safe administration as well as outlining the risks of misuse.
A second aspirational takeaway is that palliative care services are needed across hospitals, corporate providers, NGOs, and government institutions—but there are challenges in implementation.
A session on neuropalliative care covered dementia, childhood epilepsy, and muscular dystrophy, providing new perspectives on neurological disorders in palliative care. A session on advocacy suggested creating an awareness program for government officials, including information about the importance of opioids for pain.
Conference Sparks New Program for Mental Health Professionals
Palliative care plays a pivotal role in humanitarian crises, and more awareness is required at community levels to make it more accessible. Another takeaway from the conference is that palliative care is evolving, and catering to the changing culture and needs of the people is important.
Furthermore, there is a growing need for research specific to the field. Dr. Naveen Salin's session on research was inspiring; he talked of the need for integrating technology, and my institute has taken up more research projects using such advances.
Post-conference, with the insights we received from the sessions on education in palliative care, we launched an internship program at our institute to educate and train more mental health professionals in the field of palliative care. We have completed two batches of this program, and it is attracting more participants.
Oral presentation: "Exploring Vicarious Trauma and Post-traumatic Growth among Healthcare Professionals in Palliative Care: A Qualitative Study." Feedback on site helped me to address gaps and refine my area of research. We are now in the initial states of executing research in the area of sexual intimacy in palliative care.
'Feedback Reinforced the Need for Neuropalliative Care'
The education workshop emphasized the need to strengthen education in palliative care across healthcare disciplines. These sessions highlighted the existing gaps in formal training, especially in integrating psychosocial, communication, and ethical dimensions of palliative care into routine clinical education.
Poster: "Early Palliative Care in Atypical Parkinsonism: Insights on Functionality and Caregiver Distress." The presentation was a very enriching experience, with feedback reinforcing the relevance of my research in the field of neuropalliative care.
'It's Time for Enhanced Practical Training'
Our institution primarily specializes in caring for cancer patients, and we focus daily on providing palliative care for them. However, I have learned that individuals with conditions other than cancer can also benefit from palliative care.
The conference also included valuable updates on evidence-based practices for managing common symptoms such as pain, fatigue, nausea, and breathlessness, reinforcing the importance of ongoing training.
A session on education emphasized the urgent need to integrate palliative care principles into the core curriculum for health professionals, highlighting the gaps in knowledge and skills among new graduates when it comes to communication, symptom management, and holistic patient care. As a result, I plan to advocate for our institution to provide enhanced practical training, including case-based learning, simulation exercises, and clinical rotations in palliative care settings to give students real-world experience.
Oral Presentation Voted Best
I learned about kidney supportive care, models of integration, living wills and advance care directives. The conference gave me opportunities to collaborate on research projects with nurses.
Oral presentation: "Assessing Death and Dying Experience of Patients with Palliative Care Needs – A Quality Improvement Project." It was selected as the best oral presentation in the category of Nurses, Social Workers, Physiotherapists, Pharmacists, Psychologists, and Volunteers.