Connecting, learning and becoming the change: a community growing from the present into the future

 

Pre Congress Workshop ALCP/ANCP 2026 “Principles, Challenges and Pathways for Comprehensive Care”

 

Written by Gabriela García-Durán, Hazel Gutiérrez and Alex Daniels

 

Within the framework of the pre-congress of the Latin American Association for Palliative Care (ALCP) and the Brazilian National Academy of Palliative Care (ANCP), held in Brazil in March 2026, the Paediatric Palliative Care pre-congress workshop on 11 March became much more than an academic space: it was a deeply human encounter, a collective experience that transcended borders, disciplines and languages, consolidating itself as a community in motion.

The leadership of Dr Ximena García-Quintero, Dr Martín Notejane, and Dr Carlos Jouan made this possible. It brought together more than 250 participants and a team of facilitators from across the region and beyond, united by a shared purpose: to strengthen the present of care to transform its future. It enabled cultural differences to become a source of richness, diverse trajectories to find common ground, and knowledge to be built through collaboration.

From the very beginning, the collective energy made the difference. Collaboration, active listening and adaptability emerged as universal languages, reminding us that care is not an isolated act, but a deeply relational experience. Just as in clinical practice, where each patient, each family and each professional is part of an interdependent network, this encounter allowed us to truly experience.

This workshop went beyond transferring information or connecting theoretical ideas, it includes stories, shared experiences and wisdom. It reminded us that, although we work in different countries, contexts and health systems, we share common challenges, urgent questions and, above all, a profound vocation to provide dignified care.

One of the most powerful elements of this gathering was how language ceased to be a barrier. Portuguese, Spanish, English and multiple accents coexisted in the same space, yet what truly sustained communication was shared meaning. The intention to provide better care transcended words, creating a deep, almost intuitive understanding among participants.

ALCP and ANCP served as a key bridge in making this convergence possible. It helped create a space where learning goes beyond acquiring information; it involves questioning, reflecting, contrasting, and reconstructing. A space where learning also means unlearning practices that no longer respond to current needs, making room for new ways of accompanying.

The sessions and activities of the Paediatric Palliative Care pre-congress workshop significantly enriched the experience. Contributions from experts in the field offered high-quality content while also igniting something deeper: inspiration. There were conversations about pain, but also about quality of life. About illness, but also about life. About loss, but above all about relationships. About communication, support and dignity.

 

 

Each intervention raised essential questions: what does it truly mean to care? How do we accompany families in the midst of uncertainty? How do we sustain healthcare teams who themselves face burnout, grief and complexity? These questions did not seek single answers, but rather opened pathways for reflection and action.

Comprehensive care is not a distant ideal. It is transformed to practice when built through interdisciplinarity, active listening and genuine commitment.

In this space, building knowledge also includes building community. Every exchange, every conversation and every shared silence contributed to weaving a stronger network. A network that does not end when the workshop closes but continues to expand. One that travels back to hospitals, clinics and care settings, transforming into new practices, new perspectives and new ways of being with children and families we care for.

More than 250 people are not just a number. They represent a growing network, a community that is strengthening and beginning to recognise itself as an agent of change within its own contexts. They represent more than 250 opportunities to impact on the lives of children, families and healthcare teams across the region, expanding, exponentially, the hope of reaching every child, every family and every professional who needs it.

In this encounter, ideas were contrasted, new perspectives were built and possibilities were ignited. There was learning, but also unlearning. There was inspiration, and participants left inspired.

Above all, something essential was reaffirmed: that every child deserves to receive the care they need; that every family deserves to be accompanied with respect, compassion and humanity; and that every healthcare team deserves spaces where they too can be cared for.

This workshop was an act of hope. It is a tangible demonstration that it is possible to bring together a diverse community and generate something beyond learning: to create meaning, mobilise awareness and inspire action.

Today, the challenge is clear: not to allow this experience to remain only a memory. To bring it into practice. To embody it in every daily encounter. To multiply it across every context.

Change is not a future event, but a practice we live out in the present. It is shaped by every honest conversation, every act of empathy, and every ethical choice we make each day.

When a community comes together to connect, learn, and embody that change, the future stops feeling distant and begins to take shape in the here and now.

And perhaps that is the essence of everything that was lived.

Closing with this quote by Nataliia Onipko, Ukraine (SIOP Women Leaders Almanac 2026): “If you want change in the future, become that change in the present.”

We cannot change the whole world immediately, but we can change someone’s world today. This is important, because the future of care is not something we wait for. It is something we create.

And it always begins today.

 

Contact Information

ICPCN Education Team

Alex Daniels — education@icpcn.org

Gabriela García-Durán — education.officer@icpcn.org