2020; Volume 21, No 8, August
Last year’s Recognizing Loyalty winner, Dr. María Susana Ciruzzi, from Argentina, planned to attend the ACLP conference, postponed due to the pandemic.
Act Now! IAHPC Opportunity for Members:
Loyalty & Increasing Membership Awards
IAHPC benefits every day from the hard work of our members who are devoted to the advancement of hospice and palliative care worldwide. Members exemplify a continuing commitment to patient care, improved education, and favorable policies consistent with our mission.
October is our Members’ Recognition Month, when we highlight the vital function that members play in the advancement of our mission, and formally acknowledge their support by awarding a prize to each winner in the categories described below.
1. Recognizing Loyalty
- Goal: To reward current members who have been loyal to the IAHPC.
- Eligibility: Current IAHPC members who have kept their membership in good standing for at least 3 consecutive years by October 31, 2020 are automatically included.
- Prize: One IAHPC Traveling Scholars grant or Traveling Fellowship plus a one-year membership.
Aim to beat the feat of Dr. Elizabeth Namukwaya, from Uganda, who inspired 10 new members to join in 2019.
2. Increasing Membership
- Goal: To increase the number of members by rewarding a current member who brings the highest number of new or renewed members.
- Eligibility: Current IAHPC members, including both individuals and institutions.
- Prize: One IAHPC Traveling Scholars grant or Traveling Fellowship plus a one-year membership for the current member who has brought the highest number of new or renewed members within 12 months as of October 31, 2020.
What this means: The time to join or renew your membership is now! And you have 2½ months to encourage others to do the same; this is the perfect time to tell colleagues why you chose to be an IAHPC member. Longtime members share their reasons in this issue’s Featured Story.
Winners will be featured in an upcoming issue of this newsletter.
A Quick Guide to Our Recent COVID-19 Webinars
This is the last group in a series of webinars — and links to their valuable, detailed briefing notes — produced by a unique collaboration during COVID-19 between the International Hospice and Palliative Care Association, the International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN), the Humanitarian Aid Situations and Emergencies network (PalCHASE), and the Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA).
The entire video series and all briefing notes can be found here, under “Special Series on COVID-19 and Palliative Care.”
“Leaving No One Behind:” Valuing and Strengthening Palliative Nursing in the Time of COVID-19 (video: June 25 webinar)
Globally, nurses have been at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exposed the challenges nurses face: excessive workloads, redeployment to areas requiring new or different competencies, the risk of being infected or infecting others, and often working without the recommended personal protective equipment. Their contribution has highlighted the particular competencies and skills that palliative care nurses possess: showcasing holistic care, dealing with complex problems and decisions, demonstrating palliative care as a human right, and showing their increased risk of stress and burnout.
Briefing note:
Advocating for Integration of Palliative Care into National COVID-19 Responses (video: July 2 webinar)
Palliative care advocates at the national level need support and guidance to hold their policymakers accountable for commitments made at the international level to integrate palliative care into their national COVID-19 response plans, health policies, and universal health coverage strategies. National implementation requires informed and sustained advocacy to persuade and support policymakers that they can deliver on their international commitments and make palliative care available to all who need it, even during a pandemic. The current crisis may even prove an opportunity to secure additional funds and commitment as leaders respond to growing political pressure to reform health systems and build back better.
Briefing note:
Persons Experiencing Homelessness, Detainees, & LGBT+ People (video: July 9 webinar)
The COVID-19 pandemic poses new physical, psychological, and social threats, compounding the difficulties vulnerable people have in accessing palliative care services, which for many were unavailable prior to COVID-19. Discrimination and inequalities disproportionately expose them to the virus, health systems generally do not prioritize their needs, and the resulting vulnerability causes them to experience extra stressors.
Briefing notes:
- Palliative Care for LGBT+People in the Time of COVID-19
- Vulnerable Populations in COVID-19: Palliative Care for Detainees in Custodial Settings
- Palliative Care for those Experiencing Homelessness in the Time of COVID-19
Risks, Challenges, and Opportunities for Fundraising during the Pandemic (video: July 16 webinar)
Philanthropic, health and social care, foreign aid, and global health development budgets are shrinking dramatically under pressure of COVID. Very little or no national funding is trickling down to grassroots NGOs for service delivery or advocacy per the national commitments in multilateral agreements and global health resolutions. Experts discuss challenges and opportunities. The Fundraising and Sustainability briefing note will be published soon.
Learn more about the International Children’s Palliative Care Network and Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance, listed in the IAHPC Global Database of Palliative Care Institutions and Organizations.
Great idea! The Astonishing Power of 1 Facebook Post
Gulnara Kunirova
When the Kazakhstan Association for Palliative Care noted an increasing number of complaints from people suffering unrelieved pain, it posted the problem on its Facebook page, tagging the Minister of Health along with several ministry officials. “The response was almost immediate,” reports Gulnara Kunirova, president of the association and an IAHPC Board Member. “The next day, we had an online discussion with the vice-minister and several ministerial agencies,” which quickly led to a core response group with representatives from all 14 provinces and the country’s three major cities.
The group decided to collect and analyze data on opioid purchases and consumption, to discern if procurement was adequate. It showed that the amount consumed in one month would treat only 20 people, while thousands were in need. When this result was brought to a subsequent online meeting, the government instituted electronic monthly reporting to track use by each province. Kunirova was astounded at the success of a single Facebook post, and “it all happened within one month!”
What’s New in the Calendar
Asia Pacific
“Communications.” Webinar hosted by the APHN. August 19, 2020.
Croatia
The ICIC20 Virtual Conference (a relaunch of the 20th International Conference on Integrated Care scheduled in April). Online. September 9, 16, 23, and 30, 2020.
UK
The following courses are given by the Cecily Saunders Institute:
- Research Methods & Statistics in Palliative Care. January 11-21, 2021. London.
- Assessment and Management of Symptoms in Advanced Diseases. February 8-19, 2021. London.
- Applying Psychosocial, Cultural, Ethical and Spiritual Issues to Palliative and End-of-Life Care. April 19-30, 2021. London.
- Service Management and Policy in Palliative Care. June 28-July 9, 2021. London.
Applying Epidemiology in Palliative Care. September 6-17, 2021. London.
Argentina
Curso de Cuidado Paliativo en Domicilio para Enfermería con Práctica en Simulador.
Course. September 15-December 15, 2020. Buenos Aires.
Spain
Medicina Paliativa en Niños y Adolescentes. Online course. October 14, 2020-May 14, 2021.
Find a workshop, seminar, congress, or conference to interest you in the IAHPC Calendar of Events, updated monthly, that lists activities of special interest to those who work in palliative care. Or submit an event for consideration; it’s free!
Do you have any questions regarding the IAHPC Calendar of Events?
In other news
Dr. Dingle Spence at the bedside at Hope Institute Hospital in Jamaica. Dr. Spence co-authored an article in the MMS journal devoted to global palliative care. Photo by Dr. Steven Smith. Used with permission.
MMS Bulletin on Global Delivery of Palliative Care
Medicus Mundi Switzerland, an online journal for international cooperation and health, has published a thematic issue on palliative care around the world titled “Palliative Care — Not a Luxury, but a Human Right and an Essential Element of Universal Health Coverage.”
The table of contents and full articles are available here in English, French, and German. Three articles were authored or co-authored by previous and current IAHPC Board Members.
- In Their Own Words: Advocates describe their ongoing work to relieve serious health-related suffering is an article on improving access to palliative care and its essential medicines in lower- and middle-income countries, co-authored by Ebtesam Ahmed, Mary Callaway, Nahla Gafer, Harmala Gupta, Eve Namisango, and IAHPC Advocacy Officer Katherine Pettus.
- Trouble in Paradise? describes new approaches to expanding palliative care in the Caribbean. Lead author Dingle Spence was joined by co-authors Brittany Bromfield and Steven Smith.
- How a Local Champion Can Bring the Government on Board describes an initiative to launch palliative care in Burkina Faso, co-authored by Jonanthan Leighton, Martin Lankoandé, and Anne Merriman.
EAPC Gears Up for Interactive, Online World Research Congress
A blend of on-demand sessions, live presentations, live panels hosted by international experts, a children’s seminar, poster sessions, and EAPC group meetings comprise the European Association for Palliative Care’s first online congress taking place October 7-9, 2020.
The EAPC 11th World Research Congress promises to “bring you all of the latest research from the world’s top researchers in palliative care. Learn and interact with leading researchers and chat with other registered delegates from the global palliative care community — all in the safety of your own home or office.”
Live session panelists include: Prof. Sheila Payne (UK), Prof. Stein Kaasa (Norway), and Prof. Eduardo Bruera (US). Plenary speakers include: Prof. Irene Higginson (UK), Prof. Claudia Bausewein (Germany), Dr. Naosuke Yokomichi (Japan), Elisabeth Honinx (Belgium), Dr. Geana Paula Kurita (Brazil), and Prof. Peter Hudson (Australia).
Selected content from the congress will be available on demand from September 21 until January 2021. CME accreditation will be available for those who register.
APHN Webinar on Communication
“Communications” is the topic of a webinar by Dr. Satosh Charturvedi, hosted by the Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network, on August 19, 2020. A one-hour Q&A will follow the speaker. Dr. Charturvedi is the Senior Professor of Psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences, Bangalore, India.
Each month, we publish items that may be of interest to our global readership. Submit your contribution.
- Content should describe opportunities to advance palliative care and improve knowledge, skills, and networking, e.g., education and training, travel grants, access to online resources, etc.
- 150 words maximum.
- Deadline: 20th of each month.
- Images should be in JPEG format. We reserve the right to edit content.
Please also consider promoting your education and training events in the IAHPC Global Directory of Education in Palliative Care. It’s quick and easy — just submit your content online.
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