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President's message 2008
The new Board of Directors
Following the elections at the General Assembly in Budapest in June 2007, the Board of Directors has started working with seven new members (Michaela Bercovitch, Maria Nabal, Sheila Payne, Esther Schmidlin, Per Sjögren, Carol Tishelmann and Chantal Wood) and six members that had already served with the previous board (Augusto Caraceni, Tine De Vlieger, Pam Firth, Katalin Hegedus, Andre Rhebergen and myself). We are working in a sound and harmonious association, with a growing sense of competence. In 2008, the EAPC had individual members in 40 countries, with collective members from 41 National associations located in 25 European countries, representing 50,000 health care workers and volunteers working or interested in palliative care. Much of this work of the EAPC is done in the Task Forces involving many active members from different countries and a wide range of professions.
Task Forces
The Task Force on Development of Palliative Care in Europe has contributed significantly to the EAPC, with survey data from the Task Force published in several papers in peer reviewed journals. The recently released Atlas of Palliative Care in Europe presents a comprehensive review of the development of palliative care in Europe. The Atlas has been used with good effect for advocacy work. From the data a comparison between countries can be made, showing the state of development and implementation in each country and identifying advantages, but also clearly pointing to the deficits and gaps in the provision of care in each country. The Task Force on Development is currently preparing its second book, containing qualitative information from the country reports following completion of the previous publication. As with the first book, I expect this to become a valuable asset for the EAPC, supporting information and advocacy work.
The Task Force on Palliative Care for Children and Adolescents has produced a consensus paper (IMPaCCT) published in the European Journal of Palliative Care. Translations in several languages are available on the EAPC website. This consensus paper will truly justify its name, as it is already making an impact, raising the awareness of palliative care needs in children and adolescents.
The Task Force on Education for Physicians has produced an undergraduate curriculum for medical students, which is available on the EAPC website. The Task Force has been chaired by Marilene Filbert, who has put much energy and dedication in the production of this curriculum. After Marilene has stepped down, Frank Elsner has taken on the chair, aiming towards the development of a postgraduate curriculum as the next goal.
The Task Force on Nursing Education is currently preparing a staging platform, which will connect nurses seeking placements with services willing to offer such placements.
Other Task Forces as well as the Research Network of EAPC have continued their high quality work as in previous years.
Congress
The 10th congress of EAPC was held in June 2007 in Budapest, with more than 2000 participants and much positive feedback. The congress site was chosen deliberately to show the commitment of EAPC towards Central and Eastern European countries and to facilitate access to the EAPC congress for participants from those countries. A new campaign, the Budapest Commitments, was launched at the congress. The Budapest Commitments are a joint project of the EAPC, the International Association of Hospice and Palliative Care and the Word-wide Palliative Care Alliance. The national associations have been asked to define clear goals within a common framework, and commit themselves to reach these goals in the next two years.
The next congress of EAPC will be in Vienna in May 2009. Friedemann Nauck and Phil Larkin have been appointed as chairs of the Scientific Committee and Hans-Georg Kress as chair of the Organizing Committee and have already started work on the organisation and planning. First results from the Budapest Commitments will be presented in Vienna.
However, before this event there will be the EAPC Research Forum in May 2008 in Trondheim. The congress is well prepared and organized, and large interest is already evident from registrations and abstract submissions. The forum, as the ones before, will make a major contribution to the development of palliative care research in Europe.
Advocacy
As a European player, EAPC has to contribute to advocacy for palliative care on national and European levels. Advocacy is done in close collaboration with the national associations, but also with increasing activities targeted at the European institutions, for example in meetings with members of the European parliament or the Commissioner on Research of the European Commission. The EAPC has also been able to present the state of palliative care in an European conference on cancer care organized under the Slovenian presidency of the European Union in February 2008, and this has raised much awareness on the need for palliative care in the stakeholders and decision makers participating in that conference.
Board of Directors
After the election in Budapest, the board has met twice. Part of these board meetings were dedicated to broader strategic planning. EAPC needs proactive planning towards a common vision, defining clear goals targeted along well defined timelines. A first result of this is the new mission statement of EAPC:
The EAPC brings together many voices to forge a vision of excellence in palliative care that meets the needs of patients and their families.
It strives to develop and promote palliative care in Europe through information, education and research using multi-professional collaboration, while engaging with stakeholders at all levels.
As a second important step, supporting and extending the Budapest Commitments and with the aim of creating a common language in European palliative care the Board of Directors has been given a remit for producing a white paper on norms in palliative care in Europe, providing guidance and recommendations for service providers, stakeholders and decision makers.
Thank you
The achievements of the last year, as in previous years, and the good reputation of the EAPC are based on the dedication of time and energy from many members of the EAPC. In the Task Forces and workshops, in the congress and in various other functions, working in national associations, international workgroups or on the board, you all have contributed significantly to the EAPC.
As president of the EAPC I have to thank you all and express my gratitude for your continuous commitment!
Lukas Radbruch
President of EAPC
Aachen, 2nd April 2008
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