IAHPC Traveling Scholar's Report

V Congress of the Latin American Palliative Care Association (ALCP)

Buenos Aires/Argentina

My participation in the V Congress of the Latin American Palliative Care Association (ALCP) in the beautiful city of Buenos Aires, Argentina was directed at building a network of researchers in Latin America and to promote research and the publication of studies from the continent.

At the congress I met hundreds of people from different countries in Latin American, as well as from Europe, Canada and USA who are interested in the region. In my opinion, an important focus of the congress was research. For example, a speaker such as Eduardo Bruera was very inspiring and encouraging to us to do more research.

Together with Dr. Jorge Eisenchlas, I was invited as an expert to the “Meet the Expert Session” entitled “Another case? Palliative care research in Latin America”. I gave a short presentation describing the importance, as well as the global and regional challenges to palliative care research. I highlighted the meager contribution of papers from Latin American countries to international journals.

During this meeting, I also analyzed the conditions, resources, needs and barriers in the Latin American context with experienced as well as emerging Latin American researchers. On the positive side, there is a high degree of collaboration and trust /confidence on part of the patients and their families. On the negative side, the high workload, the lack of research training and resources, isolation, as well as lack of a knowledge , or misconceptions , about palliative care are obstacles to research. Institutions and the governments play a role in both impeding and supporting research. At the same time, the results of research are very important to obtain additional support from both sectors. Information sources, training in research, places to share experience s as well as acknowledgement of our own resources and potentials were seen as needs. There is a demand from palliative care associations to cooperate and support research.

During informal meetings with several participants I learned about the situations in palliative care research. The principal challenges are a lack of knowledge of palliative care by other medical disciplines, a lack of funding, a disinterest of the government in palliative care issues, and a lack of availability of resources. There is considerable awareness of the importance of palliative care research and the interest and motivation regarding doing research were higher than I expected. The large number of oral presentations and posters on research studies are evidence of this.

In meetings with experienced researchers such as Dr. Roberto Wenk, pioneer in Palliative Care in Latin America, I was able to design potential research projects. I was also involved in the design of a new research project together with Dr. Isabel Torres from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in USA and several Latin American centers. During a visit to the palliative care unit at the “Hospital Dr. Tornu” I exchanged experiences with the interdisciplinary team - this rounded off my visit to Buenos Aires.

In summary, my aims and my expectations were fulfilled. I very much want to thank the IAHPC and the ALCP for this wonderful opportunity!

From left to right: Dr. Maria Elena Restrepo from Colombia, Dr. Tania Pastrana, Ms Liliana De Lima and Dr Mercedes Franco from Colombia. Dr. Pastrana and Dr. Franco both were recipients of Traveling Scholarships to the past ALCP Congress in Buenos Aires.

Dr. Tania Pastrana
Research Assistant
Department of Palliative Medicine
University Hospital RWTH
Aachen, Germany