MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Dear readers:
Doctor William Farr, our Newsletter editor for the past 15 years has taken several months off until he recovers from some health issues. This edition was edited by Dr. Roberto Wenk and Ms Liliana De Lima. On behalf of all our directors, members and staff, we wish a speedy recovery for Dr. Farr.
This month we have several important and exciting announcements:
1. List of Essential Practices in Palliative Care: In a project which included the participation of individuals and representatives of pain and palliative care organizations, the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) recently developed a list of essential practices in palliative care. Under the framework of the “essential” concept, the IAHPC decided to work in different projects aimed to identify the “essential” components for palliative care. The list of essential practices in palliative care for health workers working in primary care includes those practices aimed at meeting the most prevalent physical, social, psychological and spiritual needs of palliative care patients and their families.
To work on this proposal, IAHPC formed a working group which included board members of IAHPC and external advisors from the field. The working group developed a plan of action and methodology which included a Delphi process among 425 health practitioners, primary care providers, and palliative care experts from 63 different countries around the globe, and a ranking survey with representatives from 45 international palliative care and pain relief organizations.
The IAHPC List of Essential Practices includes 23 practices with different levels of intervention under the following domains of care: Physical Care; Psychological/Emotional/Spiritual Care; Care Planning and Coordination; and Communication Issues. The IAHPC List of Essential Practices in palliative care may help define appropriate primary palliative care and improve the quality of care delivered globally. The List of Essential Practices in palliative care is available in the IAHPC website under the Palliative Care Essentials icon on the homepage at www.hospicecare.com As the holder of the copyright, IAHPC allows free dissemination for educational purposes with appropriate credit given to the organization. Please feel free to disseminate this announcement to your colleagues and friends.
2. Opioid Availability and Accessibility Strategy: Last month IAHPC hosted in Quito, Ecuador, in collaboration with the Ecuadoran Society for Palliative Care (SECUP) and the Ecuadorean Association for the Study and Treatment of Pain (SEETD) a workshop to develop a strategy to improve opioid availability and accessibility in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Participants included representatives from the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/ World Health Organization (WHO), the Pain and Policy Studies Group (PPSG), the National Competent Authorities and pain and palliative care specialists of each country. Congratulations to all the coordinators and pain specialists selected to work on this strategy:
For Bolivia: Dr. Elizabeth Justiniano and Dr. Marco Antonio Narvaez
For Ecuador: Dr. Maria Cristina Cervantes and Dr. Mariana Vallejo
For Venezuela: Dr. Patricia Bonilla and Dr. Eloymar Rivero.
The workshop provided an opportunity to identify the barriers which unnecessarily interfere with legitimate access to opioids for pain relief and develop strategies to reduce or eliminate these barriers. We look forward to continue working with them and with the corresponding authorities in the implementation of their plans in the next two years. This workshop was possible, thanks to a grant from the US Cancer Pain Relief and the De Lima Bohmer Foundation in Colombia. We will be sending summaries of the findings to the WHO, PAHO and INCB on resulting from this workshop.
The photo below shows the participants to the meeting (photo by Dr. Ricardo Tixi)
3. Leadership Development Initiative: We are also excited to be part of the International Palliative Care Leadership Development Initiative (LDI) in Palliative Care, put together and implemented by the Institute of Palliative Medicine at San Diego Hospice under the leadership of Dr. Shannon Moore and Dr. Frank Ferris, one of our board members. This is the second cohort of extraordinary leaders from developing countries who were selected after a thorough application process. Last month, the LDI convened 23 participants from 15 different countries and each has developed a personalized development plan that will help them advance palliative care in their own countries. Both of us (LDL and RW) are mentors of participants and will be working together with them during the next two years. Congratulations to the Institute of Palliative Medicine for this program and to the grantees for their selection. We will be featuring each participant in the next editions of the newsletter in recognition of their great effort and accomplishments.
4. Participation in Congresses: We will be participating with a stand in the exhibit area in the two important meetings this month:
a) The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association annual meetings on March 7-10 in Denver, USA. Additional information about the meetings is available in http://www.aahpm.org/learn/2012-Assembly/2012-assembly.html
b) The 6th Congress of the Latin American Association for Palliative Care on March 14-17 in Curitiba, Brazil. Additional information about the ALCP congress is available in http://vicongresoalcp.org/bienvenidos/
IAHPC will be offering a special promotion of 50% discount for participants to these two congresses who wish to join IAHPC as members as long as they join during the congress days.
If you are planning on attending, please help us disseminate this great opportunity. Some ways you can help are:
- Stop by our booths and help us distribute fliers during the exhibit hours
- Invite your friends to join IAHPC
- Share this email with your colleagues and ask them to spread the word.
Regards,
Roberto Wenk, MD
Chair, Board of Directors
Liliana De Lima, MHA
Executive Director
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