Fifty specialists from Armenia, Georgia, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan met in Yerevan at the International Summer School organised by PACED — The Foundation for Palliative Care Education.
The core themes of the educational programme included palliative care philosophy, mobile services, symptom management, communication skills, and development challenges for palliative care professionals in their countries.
An important part of PACED Mission is to empower palliative care professionals through knowledge and skills, so the School programme included theoretical and practical formats.
We brought together leading subject matter specialists from PACED countries of presence, all of whom face challenges to further develop palliative care in their countries.
It was three days of productive, inspiring immersion into best practices. And we hope that participants will apply new skills to help patients and their loved ones after returning to their home countries
— Roman Sklotskiy, Managing Director, PACED.
A survey conducted immediately after the School showed that the participants gained a lot of new information and significantly improved the quality of their knowledge, especially with regard to the organisation and work of mobile units and team support tools.
Guest experts of the School included:
- Dr Piret Paal, Austria-Estonia: Head of the Institute for Palliative Care, Paracelsus Medical University
Dr Paal led a track on the philosophy of palliative care, quality indicators, and decision-making principles. She also shared successful examples and discussed various forms of care and their specific features. Finally, she provided practical advice on caring for medical staff.
- Dr Minna Hökkä, Finland: Registered Nurse, PhD in nursing sciences, Board member in European Association for Palliative Care
Dr Hökkä deepened participants’ knowledge of principles of patient monitoring, pain and psychosocial symptom management. As a practitioner, she helped the participants get the tools for everyday work with patients.
- Vaghinak Ter-Hovhannisyan, Armenia: Human rights activist, lawyer, researcher, a member of the Monitoring Group in Mental health centres of the Ministry of Health Republic of Armenia
Vaghinak Ter-Hovhannisyan talked about how Armenian legislation regulates the provision of the population with opioid analgesics and the difficulties that specialists and patients face. He also explained the specifics of financing the palliative care system.
- Anna Gorchakova, Belarus: Director of the Belarusian Children’s Hospice
Anna Gorchakova discussed with the participants the principles of careful communication with patients and their relatives in different situations.
- Nyuta Federmesser, Russia: founder of the VERA Hospice Charity Fund &
- Ekaterina Ovsyannikova, Russia: Director of the charitable private medical оrganisation «Hospice at Home»
Both experts shared real experience and insights in organising palliative care mobile units — from team composition to documentation, equipment, and building workflows. The training with a simulated patient helped participants understand how to apply this knowledge in practice.
The International Summer School was organised by PACED – The Foundation for Palliative Care Education. It is a UK charitable organisation founded in 2017 to support palliative care professionals in Central Asia, Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and the Baltic countries in acquiring knowledge and exchanging experiences.
The Foundation team prepares webinars, digests of international materials and news about palliative care, and runs a programme of professional mobility grants. Sign up for PACED newsletter here. Stay updated on educational events and other activities.
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