World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCD) is a unified day of action to celebrate and support hospice and palliative care around the world and takes place on the second Saturday of October every year.
This year’s WHPCD fell on 12 October 2019 and the theme is “My Care, My Right“. The theme aims to communicate that palliative care can be demanded by the public – and that, together, every person impacted by a life limiting illness can influence their policy makers to prioritize palliative care financing under Universal Health Coverage.
Many palliative care organisations and services organised their own events to commemorate WHPCD in their own way. Some of our organisational members have kindly shared articles and photographs about their WHPCD event.
*Articles and photos were provided by the services and organisations
AIIMS Raipur conducted a sensitization program on palliative care for healthcare providers. The team presented and discussed the concept of palliative care and its benefit with the medical and nursing faculties that attended the program. About 30-40 doctors and nurses participated in this program. This was aimed at improving the referral services within the institute.
AIIMS Bhopal also organized a palliative care workshop on the occasion of WHPCD. They organized an initiative to make Bhopal pain free by organizing a workshop on palliative care which was well attended by around 40-45 doctors and nurses from institutes around Bhopal
AIIMS Bhubaneswar organised a nurse’s enrichment program as part of their WHPCD activity. Around 100 nurses from the hospital participated in this program along with the nursing principal of the college. Pain and nursing issues in cancer patients was taught along with role play on communication skills.
The two partner institutes in this project AIIMS, Delhi and KMC, Manipal also organised activities on WHPCD.
AIIMS, Delhi organised an activity for undergraduates, postgraduate students and nurses on the concept of end of life care, which was followed by a quiz. This was well attended by the students and nurses.
Activity at KMC, Manipal
Kasturba Medical College and Hospital organized a walkathon on the occasion of WHPCD. The idea was to take the activity out to the public and create awareness about palliative care. This was preceded by newspaper articles and talk shows on palliative care. The Heads of the Institutes released videos urging the public to participate in the “Walk for Palliative Care.” Over 900 students and senior citizens participated in this activity. The Superintendent of Police, Udupi District was the Chief Guest.
BALCO Medical Center, Raipur organised a 2-hour patient awareness program. The patients and their relatives were briefed about the benefits of palliative care. This was followed by a play regarding palliative care by nurses and an educational presentation for patients by the nurses.
Government Hospital, Gandhinagar, Jammu organised a CME for doctors and nurses in the district/state on palliative care. This was well attended by over 40 medical professionals from various local government hospitals and primary care centers. You may click here to watch their invite.
Mahavir Cancer Institute and Research Center, Patna conducted a public awareness campaign on Palliative Care on WHPCD. The Medical Superintendent announced the plans for construction of a 100-bed hospice for cancer patients in Patna. The local newspapers highlighted the need for palliative care in the state, and also the plans for opening of the new palliative care center.
12th Oct marked this years’ World Palliative Care Day. Pallium India celebrates this day as an annual event by dedicating it to patients and their families. This year the event titled “Kanivu 2019” (meaning compassion) was sponsored and conducted by The Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Kovalam (IHMCT) with the whole-hearted support of their students and staff.
The theme this year is “Palliative Care: My Care, My Right”. The management, students and staff of IHMCT became so sensitized to the cause of palliative care that they went beyond the theme to reaffirm that “If your Care is your right, then it equally becomes my responsibility to give you that Care”. The event witnessed the highest degree of professionalism in planning and execution to the minutest detail by the students led by Shri.Rahul and the staff, prominent among them being Ms. Jolly Joseph, HOD. Considering that they needed to cater to a crowd of 520 that included patients (188), their caregivers and family members, staff and volunteers of Pallium India, this was indeed a daunting and mammoth task by sheer scale. The hospitality and dedication displayed by the students especially and the staff was to be seen to be believed. The degree of hospitality demanded special attention to some of the patients and the students satisfied that requirement in ample measure.
The event was inaugurated by Shri. S.M.Vijayanand (IAS), former Chief Secretary, Govt of Kerala, who was the chief guest, felicitation was by Shri.Rajashekhar, Principal IHMCT, Shri.Sree Kumar Muttacaud, IAPC Secretary, Shri K.Sivadasan Nair, President, TIPC. The event compered by Vyshnavi of Pallium India began with a prayer and lighting of the lamp followed by an ice-breaking session of games organized by the students separately for the patients and their caregivers. This was followed by songs and dances performed by the students of IHMCT who delighted the audience with their excellent performance. Rajesh Kuttichal (a person with paraplegia), a gifted singer who enthralled the audience with his superb renditions stole everyone’s heart. The excitement created by the scintillating songs carried the students, volunteers and staff of Pallium India on to the stage to ventilate their joy by dancing to the songs. The patients and their families too enjoyed the entertainment on display, letting go of their inhibitions, taking part in games and having heart-to-heart conversations with their friends who they only got to meet on such occasions. The staff and volunteers of Pallium India who manned the registration counters and were available for help had little to do as all aspects were diligently taken care of by the students.
The Pallium India visual and print media awards were given away at the occasion by Shri Vijayanand. You may read about it here: https://palliumindia.org/2019/10/mascom-and-sheela-jaywant-win-pallium-indias-media-awards/
The students had taken care of the hungry stomachs by their culinary delights offering a wide variety of mouth-watering veg meals (25 items to be precise that included 3 salads and 3 desserts) to suit every taste bud. Tea and snacks were served during the morning and in the evening.
The event ended on a highly successful note with a Vote of Thanks by Shri.Babu Abraham of Pallium India. The students, staff and Management of IHMCT have by their uncompromising support for palliative care proven themselves to be a responsible and highly sensitized citizens to this noble cause and thus joined the torch bearers of their generation. The world needs many more of them.
The patients carried home beautiful memories of this annual day out with them and it won’t be long before they yearn for the next one to arrive soon. We look forward to that day too with pleasure.
RNT Medical College, Udaipur organised an orientation program titled “An overview on Palliative Care” as part of the WHPCD 2019 activities which was attended by over 70 doctors. The nurses organized a bedside lecture on nursing issues in palliative care for other hospital nurses. The local newspaper highlighted the program and enumerated the benefits of palliative care.
SMS Medical College, Jaipur organised an awareness program for general public about palliative care. Many patients and their relatives attended this program. The program focused on caregiver education and empowerment and home-based palliative care. You may click here to watch their invitation.
SHKM, GMC, Haryana organised a CME on Pain Assessment and WHO Ladder followed by discussion about Palliative Care. This was attended by over 30 doctors and nurses from the institute. This advocacy was aimed at sensitizing the healthcare providers within the hospital about Palliative Care. You may click here to watch their invitation.
To commemorate World Hospice Palliative Care Day 2019 ‘Aisyiyah will hold an event along with the Pink Day which will take place in Bantaeng, South Sulawesi.
At this event ‘Aisyiyah will launch the Integrated Palliative Care Model in the Community and also the Integrated Palliative Care Guidebook in the Community .
There will be around 1500 people in this event, and attended by the Central Executive Chair ‘Aisyiyah, representatives of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, and the Regent of Bantaeng Regency.
*Pictures from the event to be posted.
Hospice & Palliative Care Ward of Bobath Memorial Hospital commemorated WHPCD 2019 with two special events.
We prepared “Scent of Life: Hospice Photo Exhibition 2019” with pictures of hospice patients & their families who had been staying in the hospice ward in year 2016 ~ 2019. These pictures were taken by interdisciplinary team members instead of a professional photographer. We invited the yearning families in the pictures and shared our unforgettable moment at the time with deceased. The exhibition was held from 24th of October to 30th of September.
The second event was held on 12th of October at the one of the most popular subway stations in Sungnam city, Yatop public square. The theme of the public campaign was “Let’s talk about Hospice & Palliative Care” & “No more pain with Palliative care!”. We prepared more than 500 brochures, pamphlets and a small gift (a high quality protection mask for air pollution) which was given to the public. Eleven hospice nurses, two hospice social workers with five volunteers participated and dedicated more than six hours to promote Hospice Palliative Care to celebrate WHPCD 2019.
Penang Hospice Society held a Hospice Day Food & Fun Fair on 22nd September.
In conjunction with World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2019, Datuk Victor Raja Chairman of Persatuan Hospis Tawau, Nurse Coordinator Wong, Staff Nurse Nur Azieana , Staff Admin Marcus and volunteer Chung Moi Kui visited Amin Amirullah bin Abas to celebrate his 10th birthday at his residence at Jalan Pantai, Tawau Lama, Tawau, Sabah.
The visitors brought along gifts for Amin and a birthday cake. Datuk Victor thanked Avis Yong from Lions Club of Tawau Central for sponsoring gifts to Amin.
Amin was diagnosed with pre-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia on 5th October 2015 at the age of 5. He was under cancer treatment at Hospital Wanita Dan Kanak-Kanak Sabah,Likas, Kota Kinabalu. He has been under the care of the Tawau Hospice Home Care programme since 25.05.2016.
Persatuan Hospis Tawau also organized a Specialist Clinic and Free Screening for the public on October 12. The screening was done by specialist , doctors and nurses from Hospital Tawau. 65 guest screened for breast cancer and 4 referred to Hospital Tawau. While 77 guest screened for ear, nose and throat cancer and 31 cases referred to Hospital Tawau. Blood Pressure and Glucose checking were done by nurses of Persatuan Hospis Tawau. 62 checked their blood pressure and 38 checked for blood glucose.
Makati Medical Center conducted a lobby exhibit from October 14-18 2019, utilising the World Hospice Palliative Care Day 2019 theme ” My Care, My Right”.
“My Care, My Right”
Commemoration of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day -2019
The Commemoration of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day took place at the Dr. Pradap C. Reddy Auditorium –Lanka Hospitals, Colombo 5. The function was well attended with over 200 invitees in attendance.
The function started with the National anthem. This was followed by the lighting of the lamp of learning by the Board members, Chief Guest, Resource persons and important dignitaries.
The welcome address was delivered by Dr. D.K.D.Mathew, the President of the Palliative Care Association of Sri Lanka
The Chief Guest for the function this year was The World Health Organization representative in Sri Lanka, Dr. Razia Pendse.
The programme was studded with simple but very interesting and useful topics by well known resource persons. Topics covered were on “Critical Legal Issues relating to Palliative Care in Sri Lanka” by Hon. Justice Yasantha Kodagoda, “A Good Death” by Prof. Thashi Chang Professor in Neurology, University of Colombo and “Practical difficulties in the management of Cerebral Palsy – Optimizing Care to Improve Outcomes” by Dr. Saraji Wijesekara Senior Lecturer in Paediatrics & Consultant Paediatric Neurology University of Sri Jayawardenapura.
The high light of the event was the Malika Rani Khoja Oration by Dr. Samadhi Rajapaksa Board Member, Palliative Care Association of Sri Lanka and the topic was “Low Tech High Touch Community based Palliative Care”. He made a presentation on community projects provided all over Sri Lanka for those in need of Palliative care which was highly commended by the audience.
A special souvenir was also published to mark this occasion with many interesting articles on the subject of Palliative Care as well as on the work done by the Palliative Care Association of Sri Lanka in the field of palliative care.
The Hospice Foundation of Taiwan held the “2019 Hospice Film and Book Fair” on World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, which fell on October 12th this year . The event was held in the lobby of the Taipei Main Station, a major transportation hub, where the MRT, the Taiwan Railway and the High Speed Rail converge.
Two films were shown at the fair, “Coco” by PIXAR (the Mandarin Edition), and “Human Condition 1” (the Abridged Edition) the first play directed by Wu Nien-Jen, a well-known film director in Taiwan and the spokesperson of the Hospice Foundation of Taiwan. The two films juxtaposed differing concepts of death under distinct cultural backgrounds. Both films highlighted the importance of reconciliation, giving thanks, making amends, expressing love, and saying goodbye when faced with the uncertainties of life.
Discussions took place after the film showings. In a lighthearted and casual manner, the audience members were encouraged to reflect upon issues such as the quality of death, and medical rights at the end of life. As a highlight of the event, Director Wu Nien-Jen came to the fair in the afternoon and shared about his recent experiences with an accidental fall and his battle with cancer. He shared about the changes in his personal reflections on life and death, and also his thoughts on medical treatment at the end of life.
In addition to the film showings, the Hospice Foundation of Taiwan also planned a book fair with a focus on hospice and palliative care. Books from more than 21 publishers were exhibited. There were a total of 88 different books, films, and picture books from all over the world, allowing participants and passersby to recognize that “hospice and palliative care and dying a good death” has become a common concern both domestically and internationally.
The event, held in recognition and support of the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, drew more than 1,300 people.
Karunruk Palliative Care Center and Thai Palliative Care Network (TPCN) organised a palliative care mini marathon at Khon Kaen province (1,100 participants) and Loei province (500 participants) on 12 October 2019. This is the first time palliative care running event has been organised. During these events, we advocate palliative care, supportive care and advance care plan.
Aim for the event:
Raising social awareness about palliative care and advance care planning.
Raising funds for help poor palliative care patients and families
Event was organised with the support from local companies and local people (no paid organizer), hence, we got more alliances through this event.
You may click here to access our Facebook page for photos from the event!
On the 2nd of November, we arranged a living will social event with the Rotary Foundation at Khon Kaen. As part of the healthy living day at Bangkok, we organized living will work shop.