Congratulations to the winners of the IAHPC Photo Contest! The winning photos shown below were chosen—from among 87 photos submitted—in a blind selection process involving six judges. Photos were judged without seeing descriptions provided by the photographers. Picking just three winners wasn’t easy!
Thanks to all who participated: you may see your photo highlighted in future issues of the newsletter.
First Place ($300 US, plus a 2-year membership extension): Martin Lankoandé of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Photographer’s description: This 57-year-old patient, with pancreatic cancer, ranked his pain at a permanent 10 out of 10: he no longer ate or drank, refused to communicate with family, and asked for euthanasia. The only pain reliever prescribed by his gastroenterologist was 1 g of paracetamol (acetaminophen) every 12 hours. After sensitization of the family, we prescribed a morphine tablet that reduced his pain. Death in pain, and people suffering at the end of life, are a daily occurrence in Burkina. It is time to act against.
Judges’ comments: A young man visits with his family as he receives intravenous medication. Nurses oversee the process as they sit quietly in the background. The picture demonstrates the importance of the love and support family and friends and health care professionals provide to people with serious illness.
The patient’s expression is grim, his pain clear to see. It is not alleviated by the loving, caring presence of others: the limitations of available palliative care are painful to see.
Our approach to care is family centred. This fosters meaningful involvement in treatment decisions.
Second Place ($200 US, plus a 1-year membership extension): Tonny Mwabury of Teyateyaneng, Lesotho.
Photographer’s description: A volunteer from Najojo Better Living Mission Association assists a patient to visit the doctor. She complained about body aches and extreme tiredness after being vaccinated for COVID-19.
Judges’ comments: This was one of the few photos submitted that I could not imagine cropping or trimming in any way: it is perfect as presented. All of the elements are evocative: there is astonishing beauty in the long shadows, the warm light and the way it gently touches each person. Most of all, however, I was moved by the way each person is distinct and separate, yet together they form a stately, solemn procession. This is the beating heart of palliative care: a person in need, helped.
Third Place ($100 US, plus a 6-month membership extension): Farah Anil Joseph of Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan.
Photographer’s description: Muhammed Hanif, 48, was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer of the esophagus. He was attended by two young palliative care nurses from St. Elizabeth Hospital, Sheraz Suleman and Headley Creast, who deliver compassionate care at patients’ homes with great zeal and wearing proper personal protective equipment during COVID-19.
Judges’ comments: The photo shows the above-and-beyond effort health workers have been making to visit patients in their homes during the pandemic, and illustrates how best practice palliative care is for persons of all ages. It is the ultimate “leave no one behind" practice.
Thanks to positive reviews by our members and others, IAHPC is one of the first to be named to the 2021 Top-Rated List of GreatNonprofits.
GreatNonprofits measures reviews and stories of inspiration and appreciation from those in direct contact with nonprofit organizations based in the United States. Those with repeated kudos earn the seal, which must be earned anew each year. IAHPC has maintained its ranking as a Great Nonprofit for a number of years.
IAHPC has 119 reviews on the GreatNonprofit website. Some are very specific and others—like the most recent review, from William Rosa—pays overall tribute:
“IAHPC is an outstanding global professional nonprofit organization that consistently bridges the spheres of science, clinical expertise, education, and policy with the goals of expanding universal access to palliative care and alleviating serious health-related suffering worldwide.
“The leadership of IAHPC are communicative, responsive, and proactive in their roles. The initiatives, such as their COVID-19 Series Briefing Notes and the Advocacy Focal Point Program, unite interprofessional stakeholders across countries, cultures, and contexts.”
Thanks to everyone who took the time to post a review!
Thrifty Brits are transforming seemingly useless household items into desirable goods, which are then sold. Profits go to Greenwich & Bexley Community Hospice, which devised the RePurpose project in partnership with Veolia UK (a garbage collection agency) and the local government.
RePurpose brings staff and industrious volunteers into a common workshop in the community’s recycling center, where items are selected for a second life. Since the start of 2020, the project has diverted 18 tonnes of waste. Artistically minded people with craft skills turn items into one-of-a-kind objects that may be rare, vintage, or just plain quirky. They are sold though Etsy (RepurposeGBCH), eBay, and 17 charity shops maintained by the hospice.
For the 61,160 Pallipedia users throughout September, the top 10 terms visited were:
UBC Division of Palliative Care CME Day. Virtual conference, October 22, 2021.
Curso Cuidados Paliativos Básicos para Atención Primaria de Salud – Versión 2-2021. Virtual course, October 15–November 11, 2021.
Palliative Care Conference on World Hospice and Palliative Care Day. Virtual and face-to-face conference, October 9, 2021, in Amritsar, Punjab.
Online Foundation Course in Palliative Medicine for Doctors (FCPM) – ECHO. Virtual course, October 12–December 28, 2021.
29th International Conference of Indian Association of Palliative Care. Virtual conference, February 11-13, 2022.
The Use Of Technology In Children’s Palliative Care. Webinar, October 22, 2021.
Voluntariado en Cuidados Paliativos – Segunda Edición. Virtual course, October 3, 2021–December 15, 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!
Graduate Certificate in Health Promoting Palliative Care, La Trobe University.
Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship, Emory University School of Medicine.
Eastern Health – Supportive & Palliative Care Service
Public Health Palliative Care Unit (PHPCU) – La Trobe University
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur
Johns Hopkins Children’s Center – Pediatric Palliative Care Program
Medical University of South Carolina – Palliative Care Program
In other news
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) has published a Spanish version of its Inclusion and Access Toolkit, titled Guía práctica de inclusión y acceso.
This toolkit, released in English in 2020, is designed to provide information on basic strategies to promote access to care for communities underserved by hospice and community-based palliative care and provide resources to help promote a culture of inclusion, both for staff as well as patients and families.
The framework of the toolkit is centered around nine topic areas: the business case for inclusion, vision and values, community presence, marketing and public relations, board development, administration, quality assessment and performance improvement, workforce development, and patient and family care services.
Researchers in Switzerland are seeking experts globally, especially outside of Europe, who can provide information and national or regional guidelines on palliative sedation in their country. The study seeks to review the global situation; most experts in Europe have been identified, but those on other continents have not.
This is an invitation to participate in a review that aims to “identify systematically, transparently, and comprehensively the full spectrum of ethical challenges of all forms of palliative sedation for adults as presented in current clinical practice guidelines (CPG). This study also aims to determine whether CPGs specify the ethical challenges of this therapy for cancer and noncancer patients and, if so, exactly how they do this.” For more information, you can access the study protocol here.
The study will be descriptive, not judgmental. Assessing the quality of the guidelines is not part of the scope of the study. If there are no CPGs for palliative sedation in a country, that information is also important to the researchers.
To participate, contact Martyna Tomczyk at: [email protected]. The study, funded by a grant from the Pallium Foundation (Canton of Vaud, Switzerland), is being done under the auspices of the Institute of Humanities in Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, and the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.
Each month, we publish items that may be of interest to our global readership. Contributions are welcomed.
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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