Traveling Scholars Program Report
Odontuya Davaasuren, Professor
Travel date: May 23, 2019
Name of Meeting/Event/Activity: 16th World Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC)
Origin: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia / Destination: Berlin, Germany
How was this meeting/activity helpful to you?
Congress was very helpful for me. I received new knowledge on Symptom management on pediatrics palliative care, palliative care for patients with neurological conditions, medication safety in palliative care, advance care planning, and management of breathlessness in people with heart failure. For me was surprisingly new the use of cannabis for pediatrics palliative care. I first time know, that exist 2 types of cannabis, one of them good for seizure, other for pain, insomnia. For me was very interesting that the one presenter introduced the pathogenesis of breathlessness and said that breathlessness can be palliated, but other presenter said that no anxiolytics, no opioids can improve quality of life patients with breathlessness. WHO guide and we till now teach to use anxiolytics and opioids for palliation of breathlessness and use non drug measures. I did many photos of many poster presentations which I will give to our master students who provide study on palliative care. Maybe they will use my information gained from the conference in the references.
How will you new knowledge & acquired skills help in furthering your work in hospice and palliative care in your program/city/ or country?
1)The presentation of Dr Rajagopal and other health policy makers was important for me and I will use for advocacy palliative care in Mongolia, especially for development palliative care in primary health level. 2) Today in May 29 I had meeting with members of MPCS and give some information: a) introduced about 16 World congress on palliative care, b) I decided to organize one day course on new knowledge received form the Congress, and c) I advertised to our members to be member of IAHPC and APCN. 3) I will use my new knowledge gained from the education of palliative care doctors, nurses. Especially all information about Advance care planning. 4) I will give new knowledge gained from the Congress to master students to use in references in their master work.
How IAHPC Traveling Scholars Program be improved in order to help other future traveling scholars?
IAHPC Traveling Scholarship can be very useful to help others in future developing palliative care Worldwide. Many people in the World cannot improve and develop palliative care without this kind of conferences. Participating in International conferences improve not just knowledge on comprehensive palliative care, but improve the knowledge on policy development, advocacy, advertisement skills and even English and cooperation skills. Mongolian palliative care workers are not good in English and have problem with cooperation.
Narrative summary highlighting the needs and challanges you face
In Mongolia new standard of Family Health Centers forgot to include palliative care is one of important part of primary health care. New education standard of general practitioners forgot to include palliative care in education program of general practitioners. Maybe, because some new health policy makers did new standards. People who worked on establishing palliative care standards and guides with me retired and many new yang people now worked as health policy makes. I think, I need to provide advocacy again and use presentation of Dr Rajagopal and others for advocacy Palliative care in primary health care level.