Taiwan’s performance has always been among the best in the global Assessment of Quality of Death and Dying. However, besides the outstanding results, the feedback and advice from these assessments are what we really should be paying attention to. We should learn from the shortcomings and continue to improve to provide those in need with our comprehensive services. After a two-year survey, in 2021, the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management ranked 81 countries worldwide in terms of the Quality of Death and Dying. Taiwan ranked third in the world and the first in Asia. This assessment result is after two similar surveys
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“I was bedridden and unable to see my children. It was better to die at that point!” – Grandma Wong on her stay at public hospital Grandma Wong, 94, has lived in an elderly home since her husband passed away more than ten years ago. Last year, she was hospitalized after two fall incidents left her with fractures and cerebral hemorrhage. Being alone for so long, Grandma Wong slowly lost her will to live. “Mom is naturally active and energetic. When she was not cooking up a feast for the entire family, she was playing boccia. She even has three
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The Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network believes in the importance of ensuring equitable access to palliative care in the region. For World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCD) 2022, we are hosting the ‘Go the Distance for Palliative Care’ event as part of our efforts to celebrate and support hospice and palliative care around the world! This year, the WHPCD theme is ‘Healing Hearts and Communities.’ Grief and loss have always been part of life experienced by everyone at some point in our lifetime. People usually hold on to the memories of their loved ones and especially the good times
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Join us for the third session of APHN’s Quarterly Webinar Series for 2022! This session will be a Research-focused webinar and will be held on 25 Aug 2022, 2.30-4.00 pm (Singapore time)! It will be a live 1.5 hr session with a Q&A segment at the end with the speakers. We are honoured to have Professor Wang Ying Wei and Dr Megan F. Liu as our speakers for the session: – Part 1: Review of Global Quality Indicators of Palliative Care by Prof Wang Ying Wei – Part 2: Challenge for Future Research Collaboration: Learning from the Development of Palliative Care Atlas in Asia Pacific by Dr Megan F.
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Communication is key in the caregiving journey. By understanding each other’s love languages and utilising four simple, yet powerful, statements, patients and caregivers can build a closer and more meaningful bond at the end of life.
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When I recently saw a doctor-colleague facing the impending death of his son-in-law from cancer, the transformation that happened in our society (about how it deals with the dying) over two generations became obvious to me. The most striking memory is the expression of the dying man’s 15-year-old son, who was walking in the background choosing books and cramming them into bags. He was not part of the conversation; when he came close the conversation flagged. He was being given an unspoken message: “This is grown-up talk; kids are not part of it”. He responded by pretending not to. He
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A new podcast series to help carers who have been thrown in the deep end caring for loved ones who are dying is now available on all good podcast apps.
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Life is full of farewells and reunions. Recently, two individuals brought together by the Society for the Promotion of Hospice Care (SPHC) many years ago were reunited once more.
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