Published on: February 28, 2016

“I realized the importance of psychosocial care when you take care of the whole person.”
“I feel more confident in taking care of pain in children.”
“The leadership practices was a good learning for me.”
“I learnt a lot about grief and bereavement.”

These were some of the comments from participants who attended a refresher course on palliative care organized by the Department of Palliative Care of Bhagwan Mahaveer Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Jaipur, in collaboration with Pallium India and Cairdeas, Scotland on 16th, 17th & 18th Feb 2016. The three-day course was inaugurated by Dr. Mhoira Leng, Major General Dr. S.C. Pareek, Medical Director, BMCHRC, Mrs Anila Kothari and Mrs Florence Sserwadda. The international guest faculty comprised of Dr. Mhoira Leng, Palliative Care Physician of Cairdeas, Scotland and Florence, Palliative care nurse from Makarere University, Uganda. Dr. Anjum Khan Joad, Dr.Avnish Bharadwaj & Dr.S.G Kabra were the national faculty.

28 participants attended the three day course including doctors, nurse, psychologists and social workers representing Avedna Ashram hospice, Cansupport Delhi, Fortis hospital, ESIS hospital, SMS hospital, Asha Kiran and BMCHRC.

At the end of the course, the participants were asked, “From the course, is there anything that you could implement this week?” The answers included, “I will listen more”, “encourage the heart “, “increase my team spirit and teamwork”, “communicate with families better” and “talk to children”.

The refresher course was designed according to the current necessities of the palliative care, with focus on sharing of experiences and knowledge. Dr. Mhoira Leng & Florence vividly shared their experiences through role playing, modeling, one-on-one discussion, group discussion and Question & Answer session among the delegates. The topics included advanced communication, children’s palliative care, Medical-ethical and legal aspects of end of life care, conflict resolution, leadership, respiratory symptoms, anorexia-cachexia-fatigue, grief and bereavement. The need for integrating psychological intervention in comprehensive palliative care was emphasized.