‘Perspectives of the Integration of Palliative Care into Humanitarian Settings’ – new series of webinars launched

Author: Kathryn Richardson

On 21^st April, PallCHASE (Palliative Care in Humanitarian Aid Situations and Emergencies) hosted the first of an online webinar series. The webinar was entitled ‘Perspectives of the Integration of Palliative Care into Humanitarian Settings’.

The speakers included Joan Marston, who spoke about the need for Palliative Care in Humanitarian settings, Kathryn Richardson, who shared her experiences working in the humanitarian sector as a medical doctor and later as a palliative care specialist and Tasnim Azad who shared her experiences of setting up a community palliative care project within refugee camps for forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh. There was a panel discussion with Stephen Connor (Executive Director of WHPCA) and Liz Grant (Director of Global Health Academy, University of Edinburgh).

There were 26 different countries represented in the registration for the webinar and approximately 70 participants joined the meeting. It was really encouraging to see such interest and enthusiastic discussion about integrating palliative care into humanitarian settings. There was a PallCHASE network meeting after the webinar which many participants joined and many expressed their interest to be involved in working groups moving forward.

Palliative care in humanitarian crises has been a neglected area of healthcare. PallCHASE aims to improve access to palliative care for people living through humanitarian crises through engagement in education, research and advocacy.

PallCHASE will host online webinars every 3 months; the next webinar is planned for 21^st July, 2021. For more information about PallCHASE or to join the PallCHASE network, send an email to info@pallchase.org and share your experience and area of interest. Our new website will be up and running shortly, and will be available at www.PallCHASE.org.

Recording of the webinar, the network meeting and the individual talks can be found using the following link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgUtW8M4lEzXsV-o3AxKLyeCXJKqwfly9

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