Traveling Scholars Program Report
Farah Demachkieh
Travel date: June 15, 2023
Name of Meeting/Event/Activity: 18th World Congress, European Association for Palliative Care
Origin: Beirut, Lebanon / Destination: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Photos
How was this meeting/activity helpful to you?
The conference:
- compassionate communities and adopting a public health approach to palliative care is becoming more pressing than any other time
and is crucial to address issues related to death and dying and increase access to compassionate care.
- The importance of integrating a generalist palliative care approach into acute medical care settings such as paramedics and
emergency and the different experiences/challenges that come with it.
- Huge disparities and inequities remain present when accessing palliative care it being related to poverty and homelessness, gender
expression differences and others. Here comes the need to adopt a different approach in research to better understand and address
these complex experiences, a community oriented research approach that is embedded in participation and the necessity of building
trust and becoming part of the community for better understanding and uptake of interventions.
- The crucial role of communication and how it can be healing and sometimes not whether it being communication at individual level or
via social media or media in general.
- Listening and the art of it as a therapeutic intervention that is by itself as healing as many other more complex interventions. A lot to
learn from Kathryn Mannix!
It was a big honor for me and SANAD to be present at the EAPC to receive such a prestigious award. It was such a proud moment to
share SANAD's work and achievement and inspire others despite the limited resources in Lebanon. It was so overwhelmingly beautiful
to hear all the positive and inspiring feedback. I am beyond grateful for being able to influence this beautiful palliative care crowd and
get them to identify Lebanon with SANAD.
A lifetime recognition and memory for me and SANAD.
something that i would love to share that i have learned throughout is that despite all challenges hard work pays off! And passion will
always win!
Passionate people, leaders and organizations are the ones who will make it!
How will you new knowledge & acquired skills help in furthering your work in hospice and palliative care in your program/city/ or country?
I have connected with the journal of palliative medicine we will be working on publishing SANAD's model and capacity building
program.
Also one topic of interest to Lebanon's setting is to explore the concept of good death for people which can help in the future in starting
some work on compassionate communities.
How IAHPC Traveling Scholars Program be improved in order to help other future traveling scholars?
I believe IAHPC is playing a vital role in advocating for palliative care and supporting scholars to learn, and share their work with other
palliative care professionals from all over the world. Probably recommending to have more scholarships to cover a greater number of
scholars difficult in a time where funds are generally limited but definitely sustaining this type of support is by itself a crucial
commitment.