Education as a bridge to equitable CPC

Reflections from a workshop on the role of education in children’s palliative care

By Gabriela Garcia-Duran, Alex Daniels and Callie Daniels-Howell

Within the framework of the 4th Conference of the International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN), held in Manila, Philippines, the workshop Bridging Gaps: Promoting Access to and Equity in Children’s Palliative Care through Education was an invitation to pause, to reflect on our current practices, and to collective explore how education can become a true driver of equity for children with palliative care needs and their families.

The workshop brought together 42 participants from 14 countries, reflecting the truly global nature of the conversation on equity in children’s palliative care. Participants joined from the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Timor-Leste across Asia; Kenya representing Africa; Belgium and the Czech Republic from Europe; Lebanon from the Middle East; and Fiji and Papua New Guinea from the Pacific region.

This diversity of geographical, cultural and health-system contexts enriched the dialogue, grounding discussions on education and equity in lived realities from both high- and low-resource settings. It reinforced a shared understanding that, while contexts differ, the commitment to improving access to high-quality, equitable children’s palliative care is universal.

From the outset, the message was clear: equity is not taught through concepts alone; it is built through experiences, decisions, and concrete actions. For this reason, the workshop was designed as a space for collective reflection, where education was not an end in itself, but a bridge between reality and possibility.

Education to understand inequity

One of the central themes of the session was the recognition that children’s palliative care does not develop on neutral ground. Social, economic, political instability, geographical and cultural inequalities shape access to care, in terms of quality and sustainability. Speaking about equity means accepting that not all children start from the same place, and that offering “the same for everyone” does not guarantee justice or secure wellbeing.

Through examples, conceptual frameworks and open dialogue, the difference between equality and equity was explored, not as a theoretical exercise, but as a daily reality. In clinical practice, this difference may translate into early or late access, into culturally appropriate or disconnected services, and, in many contexts, into the invisibility of certain children and families.

When education can also exclude

Another key point of the workshop was acknowledging that education, if not intentional, can itself become a barrier. Training programmes that are disconnected from local realities, materials that fail to consider cultural or linguistic diversity, and learning opportunities that are inaccessible to those working in lower-resource settings can perpetuate the very inequities they seek to reduce.

This recognition marked a turning point: education is not neutral. It has the potential either to reproduce inequalities or to transform them.

Education as a bridge

In response to this challenge, the workshop proposed a shift in perspective: to think of education as a bridge. A bridge between disciplines, between levels of care, between communities and health systems. A bridge that brings knowledge closer to those who need it most and adapts it to real-world contexts.

The discussion focused on flexible, culturally sensitive, accessible and practice-centred education. On models that integrate families as partners in care. On learning that does not impose, but engages in dialogue. In this sense, education ceased to be understood as something that requires people to adapt to the system, and instead became something that adapts to people.

From learning to action

The impact sought by the session went beyond reflection, aiming instead to mobilise action. Participants were invited to consider what they could do—from their own role, team or institution—to move towards more equitable care.

The ideas that emerged pointed to concrete actions: sharing learning, strengthening interdisciplinary working, promoting early integration of children’s palliative care, and adapting education to local realities. Beyond contextual differences, a shared conviction emerged: equity begins when someone decides to do something differently.

A symbol that captures the message

At the close of the workshop, a small bee bearing the message “Thank you for Bee-ing awesome” accompanied the farewell. Far from being a simple token, it became a symbol of the spirit of the gathering. Like bees, those working in children’s palliative care often do so quietly, collaboratively and persistently, sustaining systems and accompanying lives without always being visible.

The bee reminded us that deep transformation is built through collective and sustained effort. That every contribution matters. That equity, like a hive, is built together.

Continuing to build bridges

This workshop reaffirmed an essential truth: without education, equity is not possible—but without intention, education does not transform. When learning is designed through listening, respect and lived experience, it becomes a bridge that connects people, strengthens practice and expands access to quality children’s palliative care.

As the ICPCN Education Team, we left this space with the certainty that the bridges are already under construction. Every conversation, every learning moment and every committed action brings us closer to the care that children and families deserve.