The conference brings together academics and practitioners to share their knowledge and experience with the aim of improving the care that patients their families receive as the end of life approaches.
Hermann Gröhe, German Federal Minister of Health, said in his welcome address: “Terminally ill and dying persons need the certainty that they are not alone as their life draws to an end and that they are being well cared for and supported in every way.”
Craig Sinclair, ACP researcher and co-founder of the Palliverse blog, noted in an editorial that: “An overarching theme emerging from (the opening) discussions was that there is something in the concept of ACP that goes to the core of medicine, healthcare and clinical relationships,” and that “ACP has a disruptive and revolutionary quality that can change the nature of how we deliver and receive healthcare, not just improve the quality of end of life care.”
In his Keynote address this morning, Professor Luc Deliens reminded delegates that: “Advance Care Planning must be dynamic and ongoing” and that it must involve the person receiving care, their family and their health care providers. “It must be about the present, not just the future,” he said.
As delegates gather for the final two days of the conference, follow all the action live via the Twitter hashtag #ACPEL2015 or the official conference Twitter account @ACPEL2015
Read more reflections on the start of the conference on the Palliverse blog, and visit the conference website.
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