Traveling Scholars Program Report
Lucas Thiago Pereira Silva, DR
Travel date: October 6, 2021
Name of Meeting/Event/Activity: 17th World Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care
Origin: Sao Paulo, Brazil / Destination: Vilvoorde, Belgium
How was this meeting/activity helpful to you?
Participation in the congress was very useful, giving me the opportunity to expand my knowledge in palliative care, especially by coming into contact with the best references in the area worldwide. With this I will be able to divulge the knowledge acquired in my context of performance in Brazil both in direct assistance to the patient and in research in the field of bioethics in end-of-life care.
How will you new knowledge & acquired skills help in furthering your work in hospice and palliative care in your program/city/ or country?
I work mainly in research activities, undergraduate teaching and university extension, so there are many fronts where I can replicate the knowledge and skills gained in the event. Especially by bringing the best evidence to my practice, in the multidisciplinary group I participate in we also reserve spaces and meetings for discussions and exchanges from experiences like these in order to disseminate and share important information on the theme among peers and how to apply them in our context.
How IAHPC Traveling Scholars Program be improved in order to help other future traveling scholars?
I am honored to receive such a scholarship and firmly believe that initiatives like this allow young people starting their careers like me to have unique opportunities. Excellent initiatives like these should be expanded and I think this can happen with the association seeking funders for these scholarships, an interesting idea would be to create an endowment fund for this purpose, focusing on early career professionals in low-income countries.
Narrative summary highlighting the needs and challanges you face
The practice of palliative care in Brazil is not yet at the expected level. The opportunity of a scholarship such as this is important, because it provides me with the tools to be more updated on the theme in order to develop research in the area in the Brazilian context and, through them, subsidize public policies and, in my case, improve the practice of nursing care in palliative care by showing the scientific evidence of the importance and magnitude of the area and the positive impacts of being encouraged.