The conference has been organised by the Jordan Palliative Care & Pain Society under the patronage of his excellency the minister of health, Dr Abdullatef Al-Wreikat.
The conference will hear speakers from Canada, India, UK , USA and the Middle East discuss topics which include:
- Palliative care – global and regional initiatives
- Quality of life for the cancer patient – a human right
- Holistic Pain management
- Wellness and complementary medicine
- Wound care
- Caring for elderly people in the Middle East
- Islamic culture in medical practice
Dr Mohammad Bushnaq, chair of the Jordan Palliative Care & Pain Society, said “the goal of the conference is to help in spreading the spirit of palliative care, by addressing important topics related to pain control, wound care, caring for cancer patients and elderly people, spiritual care, and integrative medicine.”
According to Dr Bushnaq: “palliative care is still evolving in Jordan and Arab world … the Jordan Palliative Care & Pain Society calls physicians and decision makers to integrate palliative care in caring for patients with chronic diseases, cancer patients and elderly people by training the staff in pain management, communication skills, spiritual care and home care service.”
Palliative care was launched in Jordan in 2003 following a World Health Organization (WHO) demonstration project. As a result a palliative care programme was established at the King Hussein Cancer Center as a model for palliative care in the region.
The Jordan Palliative Care Society was established in March 2010 with the vision of making palliative care accessible to all patients in need in Jordan. The society’s focus is on building capacity in eight public hospitals by training health care workers and empowering them to lead the change in their facilities.
The Society held a three day workshop on palliative care and pain management in collaboration with the WHO. The workshop took place in May 2011, with 34 healthcare workers from the eight public hospitals taking part. Following the workshop, candidates returned to their hospitals and started to apply what they learned into their daily practice. Palliative care teams were set up in two hospitals.
The international conference is a step towards the development of palliative care in Jordan.
For more information visit the Jordan Palliative Care & Pain Society Facebook page and website.
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