Dr David Oliver, EAPC Board Member and Honorary Professor, University of Kent, UK, describes key activities that were discussed at the latest Board Meeting held in Bucharest on 29-31 March 2016.
Dr David Oliver
The EAPC Board meeting covered a number of important topics:
New office
The EAPC Board agreed to open a new branch office in Brussels in addition to the EAPC head office in Milan. Several advantages support this decision, such as the proximity to European Union (EU) commissioners and other health-related civil society organisations. The board also considered that having the new office would better facilitate the EAPC’s influence on EU policies, and increase cooperation between the EAPC and other non-governmental organisations based in Brussels.
Reference Groups
It was agreed to develop Reference Groups to allow continued and collaborative work within the EAPC. Task Forces will still be established for specific task orientated projects, such as the development of a White Paper, but Reference Groups will allow longer-term activities and collaboration with other European groups to be developed. There will be a similar process to the establishment of Task Forces, with an application procedure, clear leadership and a link to the EAPC Board.
European Union funded research
The EAPC is actively involved in two large EU-funded research projects as a dissemination partner. The PACE project is looking at the provision of care in long-term care facilities in several countries across Europe. The InSup-C project focuses on Integrated Palliative Care. More details on both projects can be found on their respective websites: PACE and InSup-C.
Congresses
The 9th World Research Congress of the EAPC will be held in Dublin, Ireland from 9-11 June 2016. You can still register to attend on the congress website.
The 15th World Congress of the EAPC will be held in Madrid, Spain from 18-20 May 2017 – further details are available on the congress website.
The 10th EAPC World Research Congress will be in Bern, Switzerland in 2018 and the 16th World Congress is planned for Paris in June 2019 – more dates for your diaries!
UNGASS on Drugs
The EAPC has been closely involved in the European Union’s contribution to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS), which took place in April 2016. Although the main aim of the meeting was to look at the control and treatment of drug problems, the need for opioids to be made easily available for pain and symptom management has been reinforced in the discussions and documents.
The EAPC Research Network
The Network is very active in encouraging and supporting research across Europe. It is planning the Research Congresses and is involved in several large projects including:
- CanCon – Cancer Control Joint Action – an EU project with 27 partners across Europe looking at improving cancer care, including palliative care
- Studies on cancer cachexia and radiotherapy treatment in bone metastases
- Reassessment of the World Health Organization (WHO) Three Step approach in cancer pain control – looking at the second step in a large study of 200 patients at 17 sites in five countries.
Bucharest was the city chosen for the spring meeting of the EAPC Board of Directors
Journals
Presentations were heard from the two official journals of the EAPC:
Palliative Medicine has an increased Impact Factor of 2.855 and is now ranked at 18 out of the 88 Health Care sciences and Services journals. Palliative Medicine appears in the top 25% for all journal categories, and is the highest rated of the palliative care journals.
The European Journal of Palliative Care has increased its institutional subscriptions. A new website is due shortly, and in the first three months of 2016 there were 2,750 visitors to the site, with 6,000 page views. The journal plans to introduce a reader survey in the coming months and encourages all EAPC members to complete this.
The Board welcomes comments and suggestion from members and seeks to look at the development of palliative care throughout Europe, and in collaboration with other organisations across the world. This is the opportunity to become more involved! – take it now and use the Online Blog, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to contact us.
Anyone is welcome to contact the President, Professor Phil Larkin, or the Chief Executive Officer, Julie Ling, at Julie.ling@eapcnet.eu
Join the EAPC palliative care social media community
- EAPC Online Blog (www.eapcnet.wordpress.com)
- Facebook (www.facebook.com/EAPC.Onlus)
- Twitter: @EAPCOnlus
- Linkedin (www.linkedin.com/European Association for Palliative Care)
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