Travel date: September 17, 2017
Name of Meeting/Event/Activity: 5th International Public Health & Palliative Care Conference
Origin: Sulaymaniyah, Iraq / Destination: Ottawa, Canada
It was helpful in these aspects: 1) Gaining the scientific update in palliative care from the sessions and posters that were presented in the conference. 2) Closely interacted with the experts in public health and palliative care who joined this meeting, for the sake to gain knowledge and bring it back to my institution and city and country. 3) Sharing the modest experience that was developed in our country with the colleagues from other nations through conversation and discussion.
It was helpful by getting the knowledge and experience about establishing the palliative care at the primary health care facilities in different nations and how we can apply it in Iraq.
By continuing supporting the scholars from the low-middle income countries to join these events in palliative
The WHO defined palliative care (PC) as: "An approach that improves the quality of life of patient & families facing problems associated with advanced life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other physical, psychosocial and spiritual problems”. And the following are the bases for PC: 1) Provide PC service through an integrated multidisciplinary team consisting of physician and nurse, psychologist, religion scholar, social worker, clinical pharmacist, dietitian, physiotherapist. The team is led by physician. Up-to-date knowledge and expertise in pain management and symptoms relief are the key features of the team. 2) The PC team must have high communication skills and able to professionally handle difficult communication scenarios. The team is expected to thoroughly know about end-of-life care; Being competently able to balance between various ethical principles e.g. autonomy and beneficence. 3) The team is committed to relieving patients and their families from suffer at any stage of their illness. Obviously, there are gaps in area of PC and shortages of well- trained health/ care providers in Iraq, a war-torn country for the last thirty five years. In spite of some of the initiatives in this regard, still there is long way to pass through in order to better care of our patients who are suffering from an advanced illnesses. With the support of the IAHPC, I got the opportunity to attend the 5th International Public Health & Palliative care Conference, Sep. 17th – 20th 2017 in Ottawa and I gained the following: 1) Scientific update in palliative care from the sessions and posters. 2) An opportunity to closely interact with the experts in public health and palliative care who joined this meeting. 3) The knowledge and experience about establishing the palliative care at the primary health care facilities in different nations and how we can apply it in Iraq. 4) Sharing the modest experience that was developed in our country with the colleagues from other nations through conversation and discussion.