No doubt, the “Summer School” -as it was friendly renamed by the attendants- has constituted a magnificent resource to learn diverse issues about social research in Palliative Care. During the first week a deep view about the diverse social research methodologies to be used when investigating end of life issues was approached. The high level of the experts lectures, under the leadership of Prof. David Clark as well as their kindness made things easier than I could suppose in this field, which is quite low developed in my own country. A second hard-working week allowed me to prepare a research proposal under close supervision from experienced and skilled researchers. This “putting the hands-on” made me reflect about the wide world of qualitative research and how much necessary it is to go under the surface of common issues which are very hard to be explored. As well, the possibility to share diverse points of view with colleagues from other parts of the world was most enriching. Being immersed in the qualitative world during those weeks let me reconfirm the necessity to pay much more attention to some issues often neglected by the quantitative view and gave me the basis to develop more creative research models. Being part of the palliative care movement from a country with long palliative care tradition but scarce palliative care research initiatives, the attendance to the Summer School gave me tools to try to advance in the development of research projects strongly necessary to acquire a local base of knowledge, something most important in places like Argentina, where Palliative Care has not yet been fully recognized by neither the academic environment, the public nor other stakeholders. Skills and knowledge gained in Lancaster, UK, made me feel the duty to spread it across the country. Currently, we are working towards a National Palliative Care Research Network, a project born one year ago and not yet very active. As well, I trust to be able to spread the “research commitment” through the place that the Latin American Association of Palliative Care has given me in its newsletter, where a Research column has been recently established. Also in the local context , some specific research initiatives are now growing up and we expect to be able to fully develop those in the very next future. I wish to express my infinite gratitude to the IAHPC for giving me a Traveling Scholarship. Without it and the additional help from the Observatory on End of Life Care it would had been impossible to participate in this brilliant initiative that the Summer School is - I talk in present time as those two weeks remain in myself.
Jorge Eisenchlas, MD
Professor of Palliative Care and Research Methodology
Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina
