2021; Volume 22, No 11, November

IAHPC Recognition Awards Now Span All Income Levels

The International Association of Hospice and Palliative Care has revised its annual Recognition Awards. This year, there will be six awards for institutions and individuals, one pair of awards for each of three categories: high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries.

Winners in each category will receive US $1,000, a certificate, and a one-year IAHPC membership. Candidates do not have to be IAHPC members, but all must be nominated by an IAHPC member.

More information and nomination forms are available here. Nominations must be received before December 31, 2021.

Award for individuals

This award recognizes individuals who have dedicated themselves to the development and provision of palliative care, thereby increasing the quality of life of patients with serious health-related suffering in their countries and abroad.

Award for institutions

This award recognizes institutions that have developed, implemented, and provide palliative care to patients and their families. The committee will evaluate indicators such as interdisciplinary care, treatment protocols in place, medication availability and accessibility, the adequacy of infrastructure/resources, education and research, and publication history.

Who is not eligible

Individuals and institutions who have received the IAHPC Recognition Award in the past are not eligible for nomination. (See past winners.) Also excluded are members of the IAHPC board of directors, officers, staff, and advisers, and institutions whose governance includes any IAHPC board or staff members.

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Our New Advocacy Course: First 2 modules

IAHPC lives and breathes advocacy. Every initiative, program, policy, letter written, presentation given, event attended, discussion, phone call, and email is a step forward in advocating for palliative care services and medicines to relieve health-related suffering globally.

So it’s no surprise that our online basic advocacy course launched in January 2020 was well received, or that demand has spurred IAHPC to update and enrich it.

IAHPC’s 2021-2022 Advocacy Course comprises an Introduction and eight modules. The modules build upon one another and will be released every month until mid-2022. The Introduction is free access, but only members can access all modules, resources, and—if desired—assignments that will result in a certificate at the end of the course.

Introduction (free access, now online)

Module 1: (member login required, now online) Global advocacy framework, institutional landscape has been viewed by 59 people in 34 countries.

Module 2: (member login required, expected release: mid-November) Advocating for essential palliative care medicines

Each module comprises a PowerPoint lecture by Senior Advocacy Director Dr. Katherine Pettus, resources, followed by a brief quiz for students who wish to receive a certificate. Users are encouraged to view the videos in order, including the Introduction, as they contain background material to help them understand the modules.

If you have forgotten your IAHPC login information, select “Did you forget your membership number?” in the members’ section here. If that fails to find you, contact Genevieve Napier.

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Thumbs Up For Social Media Help

IAHPC would like to optimize our social media profile! If you are a savvy user, please contact Genevieve Napier if you have the time to lend a hand—or thumb!

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More Book Reviewers Sought

Many thanks to those who responded to our first call for book reviewers for the IAHPC Newsletter. We still need reviewers for newly-published books on these topics:

• dementia
• family medicine and geriatric care
• integrated care
• physician assistants
• nursing

If you are interested, but do not see your specialty, please contact us anyway. Other books will be coming our way!

Contact Newsletter Editor Alison Ramsey for more information, or to introduce yourself. Potential reviewers are asked to send their CV and a writing sample.

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Top 10 Pallipedia Searches

For the 70,925 Pallipedia users throughout October, the top 10 terms visited were:

• Percentile
• Ethical principles
• Health care system
• Community health
• Evaluation
• Basic needs
• Biopsychosocial model
• Medical condition
• Urban population / Rural population
• Honesty

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What’s New in the Calendar

New listings

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!

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New Listings in the IAHPC Global Directories

IAHPC Global Directory of Educational Programs

New listings

IAHPC Global Directory of Institutions and Organizations

New listings

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Great idea!

Paramedics to the rescue

Many municipalities in Canada are starting to rely on paramedics given the authority to administer some palliative medicines, including sedatives and opioids for pain relief. The province of Ontario was pushed to act by one person—the chief of a county paramedic service—who saw patients who wished to die at home being transported to hospital due to sudden difficulty breathing, seizures, or increased pain. The intention is not to replace palliative care physicians or family doctors, but to ease pressure on both patients and the health care system. Read more about it in a news report here.

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In other news

Pioneering Nurses: This is for you!

Are you a nurse pushing the boundaries to advance the nursing profession? Are you committed to redressing inequalities related to end of life? Would you like to meet others doing similar work and create a network that could support you in the future? Do you want to be part of a community where you could have real international impact through sharing your practice?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, consider attending the free Pioneering Nursing Conference on December 2, organized by St. Christopher’s Hospice. It is a one-day virtual conference to draw on the experience of nurse pioneers around the globe. It includes real-time translation into French, Portuguese, and Spanish, with breakout discussions in these languages, as well as English.

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Free End-of-Life Online Learning

End-of-Life Essentials is a website that “provides online learning and practice resources for doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals to improve the quality and safety of end-of-life care in hospitals.”

The offerings are considered essential elements for safe and high-quality end-of-life care, are aligned to Australia’s National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards, are evidence-based, and have been peer reviewed by doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals in Australia.

Learning modules include: assessing patient states of mind, patient-centered communication, recognizing the end of life, goals of end-of-life care, continuity of care, pediatric care, chronic complex illness, and how to respond to imminent death.

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World Hospice and Palliative Care Day

Warming Hearts in Zambia

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day activities the world over united palliative care providers in their goal of working for change by publicizing the benefits of end-of-life care.

The Livingstone Palliative Care Team in Zambia was notable for having organized not just one, but three WHPCD activities:

• Zambezi FM radio station provided one hour of air time for Livingstone to talk to the community about their role in caring for palliative care patients.
• The team visited patients at St. Joseph’s Hospice to provide social and economic support, spiritual care, psychosocial counseling, and to deliver food donated by team members.
• They then visited patients in the community, accompanied by community caregivers from St. Francis Home-Based Care.

“Members of the palliative care team listened to the concerns of the patients,” reports Livingston chair and IAHPC member Munkombwe Wisdom. “Some patients needed someone to talk to and hear their own perception of the illness; others needed someone who could show them love and support; further, the majority needed economic support in form of food stuffs as they were too weak to engage in economic activities and their families were struggling.”

Giving help gives hope

“What a great fulfillment to give hope to a patient to live on until they die! If we can have people driven by passion, who can willingly provide palliative care even without much support for their palliative care activities, then we can say that there is hope for the future of palliative care in Zambia,” he adds.

“The Livingstone Palliative Care Team has demonstrated that we can provide palliative care within our limited means. However, we need more advocacy to gain support for palliative care. With continued advocacy, palliative care will be given more attention and, one day, no palliative care patient will be left behind, as there will be equity of access to palliative care for all.”

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A Status Report From All States in India

The Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) drew upon this year’s World Hospice and Palliative Care Day theme, “Leave no-one behind—equity in access to palliative care,” to compile a Palliative Care Status Update for every state in the country. It is an evolving project that the IAPC intends to use to create a database on the status of palliative care in the country.

Notable facts from the update:

• Palliative care services in some capacity are now locally available in all states and union territories, except for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman, Diu, and Nagar Haveli.
• Several institutions of national importance now offer, or are beginning to offer, post-graduate courses in palliative medicine.
• The government’s National Programme for Palliative Care has been successful in implementing palliative care services, as have actions by individual states, such as integrating a cancer registry staff member to a palliative care team to ensure data collection.

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Pallium India’s Online Art Sale Raised More Than Money

Pallium India launched e-Manjuthulli, an online art sale and fundraiser, on World Hospice and Palliative Care Day in 2020. The sale and fundraiser lasted 18 weeks, during which 112 paintings, sculptures, and photograph were sold and a total of INR Rs 4,17,370 was raised.

But the impact of the event went beyond funds raised, report organizers. Involvement of the community increased in many ways: greater awareness of palliative care was achieved, many future collaborations were promised, Pallium India attracted new members during the event, the number of patient references increased, and more.

The event had been held in person every year since 2014, but moved online in 2020 due to COVID-19. It kicked off with a livestream event attended by a celebrated actor and activist, Dr. Bharat Mammootty, and good wishes sent by eminent personalities. All proceeds from the event supports palliative care activities, such as patient care, food rations, and educational needs of children.

To learn more about the Indian Association for Palliative Care (IAPC) and Pallium India, visit the IAHPC Global Directory of Palliative Care Institutions and Organizations.

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