MORE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 13TH EAPC WORLD CONGRESS IN PRAGUE
Dr David Oliver, EAPC Board Member and Chair of the Scientific Poster Committee
Jack Turyahikayo (centre) and Josephine Kabahweza at the awards ceremony with Dr David Oliver. The prizewinning poster: ‘Trends in Morphine Consumption at Mulago Hospital: Impact of an Integrated Hospital-based Palliative Care Service’, took first place in the Developing Country category
At the 13th World Congress of the EAPC in Prague I had the privilege to lead on the marking of the posters. Eight hundred and sixty-four posters from many different areas and disciplines presented new scientific theories and results from research, and described new developments in palliative care from around the world. How did we choose the winning posters?
Firstly, it is important to explain how all the submitted abstracts were considered. All the abstracts were reviewed by at least three people – all volunteers from the EAPC Board, Scientific Committee and other enthusiasts. The majority of abstracts were accepted – the only ones rejected were those that described techniques of euthanasia, were of poor quality or were not about palliative care. Of the accepted abstracts, the top ones were considered for a paper in the free communication sessions. The rest were all accepted for poster presentation. The next highest scores were put forward for poster presentation oral sessions and the next 50 were considered for a poster prize.
So a willing group of volunteers, including previous EAPC prizewinners, were given 50 posters to consider. There was also a separate consideration of the posters from developing countries and from the Czech Republic for these specific prizes.
Winner of the Host Country Award for best Czech Poster. Helena Kisvetrová receives her award from David Oliver for her poster, ‘Interventions Dying Care and Spiritual Support in Nursing Care for Patients Suffering From Death Anxiety in the Final Phase of Life’
Overall, the standard of posters was very high. There were interesting and challenging posters and during the sessions I could see the presenters having the opportunity to discuss with others – a very important part of the process. But what were we looking for in a prizewinner? We were looking for evidence from both the work presented and the way it was presented:
- Good science – was the methodology explained clearly and the results and conclusions reasonable?
- Clear presentation – it is important that a poster is easy to read and understand. So not too many lines, a reasonable font size and not too crowded. Pictures and illustrations can be helpful but should not detract from the poster’s overall message.
- Logical order – introduction, methods, results, conclusions. Many people will just look at the conclusions when looking through the poster area and they should grab the attention and be easy to read quickly.
- Correctly designed – read the instructions provided on the congress website about poster requirements, size and orientation. In Prague, all posters should have been portrait orientation but a few were in landscape – and did not fit onto the poster board!
- Clarity is the most important feature.
The judges looked for posters that were clear, informative and good science when selecting prizewinners. However, overall the standard was high and any delegate spending time in the poster area could learn a great deal, and have the opportunity to discuss with the presenter. This interaction is so important and hopefully allows for real scientific communication.
I am very grateful for all the help from Farina Hodiamont and the congress staff, and also the judges who gave up hours to review their allocated list of poster entries.
So for the next congress send in an abstract and see what happens …
Start planning now …
- Click here for information on the 8th EAPC World Research Congress, Lleida, near Barcelona, Spain, 5-7 June 2014. Deadline for abstracts is 15 October 2013.
- Click here to download guidance on preparing your poster by Prof. Sheila Payne (Payne SA. ‘How to prepare a conference poster’, Hospice Information Bulletin, 2012; 9 (1): 13).
Prague Congress reports and presentations now online!
Even if you weren’t able to attend the 13th EAPC World Congress in Prague you can now find a selection of reports and presentations on the EAPC website. Click here to access the conference web page and then follow the instructions to login in the usual way.