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Report 2rd Research Forum of the EAPC
Lyon, France, 23-25 May 2002
To view the scientific programme and the presented abstracts, please go to: eapcnet.org/Lyon2002/
REPORT
Following the very positive response to the first congress held in Berlin, in December 2000 the EAPC Research Network eager to continue its activity and pursue the targets of the working group has organised its second conference that was held in Lyon, France, on 23-25 May 2002.
The Forum was addressed to all caregivers interested and/or working in palliative care or in specialities closely connected to the field of palliative care and who wished to increase their knowledge in research.
The purpose of the Forum was to summarise and evaluate the outcomes of Research in Palliative Care over the past years and point the way to strategies for the future; as well as critically evaluate the latest developments and identify promising new fields. Moreover:
- Provide opportunities for experts and people interested in research to meet.
- Encourage the development of research respecting the ethical principles of palliative care.
- Encourage and address research in all fields of palliative care: clinical, social, organisational, etc.
- Offer a training course of interest to professionals
- Discuss and assess where research is needed in palliative care
- Discuss if, where and how, such research is feasible in palliative care
- Clarify the current status of palliative care research
- Educate a broad spectrum of caregivers with the knowledge of research that exists among palliative care experts
Five hundred and twenty-five participants from thirty-six countries (from Europe and overseas) have attended the congress and two hundred and two abstracts have been submitted, showing the increasing interest in Research among palliative care specialists. It is also very interesting the large number of countries (and continents) represented by the abstract submitters: UK, France, The Netherlands, Italy, USA, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Canada, Poland, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Russia, Australia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Iceland, Israel.
During the preparation of the scientific programme (four plenary lectures and 26 parallel sessions), the scientific committee has given special attention to:
- Priorities in research in palliative care,
- Methodology,
- Ethics and extreme situations,
- Research and multidisciplinarity,
- Continue the initiative to integrate many selected research abstracts in the programme and give opportunities to young researchers.
Sixty-eight Speakers have been invited to share with the participants their experience and knowledge acquired through their activity in the different countries they came from: UK, France, Italy, Israel, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Greece, Spain, Denmark, Canada, Germany.
Our purpose was to offer the audience the widest possible overview of the outcomes of Research from a geographical but also from a professional point of view. In fact the invited speakers represented the following professions and specialities: physicians, nurses, social scientists, ethicists, pharmacists, anaesthesiology, neurology, oncology, pain therapy, palliative medicine, pharmacology, psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine and statistics.
Each one of the abstracts received has been submitted to Experts and Professionals who have based their assessment on ratings of:
- Relation to Palliative Care
- Relation to Research
- Originality of Research
- Methodology
- Quality of Results
- Impact on Palliative Care
Seventy-one abstracts have been selected for an oral presentation, showing the high quality of papers submitted. Some of them were included in the sessions held by the invited speakers, other sessions were specifically organised instead for the selected abstracts and they were well received and attended by a lot of delegates.
One hundred and thirty-one posters were displayed and the quality was excellent. Chosen reviewers have assessed the posters and the six best posters were awarded. The six authors will receive a free registration to the 8th Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care that will be held in The Hague, The Netherlands, on 2-5 April 2002.
On the first day of the congress the Scientific Committee has also offered the participants a Course in Methodology of Research, focused on:
- Basic principles
- Measurement
- Selecting a tool for an adequate measurement
- The different stages of the development of a scale
- Reliability
- Validation strategies
- Cross-cultural aspects
- Case examples in Quality of Life and Pain measurement
- Correlation between scales
- Interpretation strategies
The course was addressed to young researchers who have recently approached the activity, as well as experienced researches eager to exchange their expertise with others.
The Congress was hosted in the École Normale Supérieure of Lyon and was realised thanks to the support and collaboration of the “Société Française d'Accompagnement et de Soins Palliatifs” (SFAP).
Thanks to the SOROS Foundation, a limited amount of sponsoring money was available for participants from Eastern European countries.
The Scientific Committee has received a very positive feedback both during and after the Congress. Participants stated that the exchange of information and the expert discussion was very enlightening.
The Research Steering Committee is confident that the Congress has provided a valuable input to the development of palliative care within Europe and the results are evident already from the new ideas and plans for future projects that have derived from the event in Lyon.
Philippe Poulain, Chairman of the Scientific Committee, France
Franco De Conno, Chairman of the Research Steering Committee, Italy
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