A new feature of this year’s 16TH World Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) held in Berlin, Germany, was the first ever photography competition. Anne Letsch (Member of the Scientific Committee and Head of the Local Organising Committee for #EAPC2019) and Claudia Sütfeld (Congress Coordinator EAPC) explain.
Claudia Sütfeld (centre) announces the winners of the New Images of Palliative Care photo competition in Berlin: Revital Nave (left) and Damaris Köhler.
Does a photo of hands holding hands truly portray modern palliative care? What image says palliative care to you?
In the run-up to the world congress in Berlin, the EAPC was seeking ‘New images of palliative care’. For the first time ever we asked you to take the opportunity to send in images that would help to change the conversation about palliative care.
And more than a hundred people did – wonderful photos from 19 countries around the globe reached our team! The themes could not have been more different – landscapes, portraits, nature shots, graphics… Some participants took photos at hospitals or hospices; others in the home care setting. Some photos were abstract, others very intimate.
But all of them touched us and made the decision of the jury very difficult. A particular thank you goes to these jury members: Christof Müller-Busch, Bernd Alt-Epping, Julie Ling, Martina Preissler and Karin Dlubis-Mertens.
The winning photos…
‘Know reality, find peace’, photograph by Revital Nave.
The jury chose 13 photos that were the most meaningful to them. The overall winner was Revital Nave from Israel whose photo is pictured above. Entitled ‘Know reality, find peace’, the winning photo was taken at Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya, in Tiberias, Israel.
All 13 winning photos were displayed during the congress in Berlin and congress participants had the chance to vote for their favourite. “Take a red sticky dot”, we said – hundreds did!
‘Palliative care goes way beyond medical care’, photograph by Damaris Köhler.
Throughout the congress, participants made their choice and red sticky dots began to appear on the photos. This time, the overall winner was Damaris Köhler from the Palliative Unit GRN-Clinic Sinsheim in Germany. Pictured here is Damaris’s winning photo that portrays an aspect of palliative care that goes way beyond medical care.
The winning photos were announced during the closing ceremony and both winners received a book prize.
Congress delegates view the winning photographs.
Congratulations to all the winners: Revital Nave (Israel), Damaris Köhler (Germany), Fraucke Backes (Germany), Ruth Corney (UK), Monica Coll (Spain), Jennifer Hancox (UK), Elodie Cretin and Hospital Team Besancon, (France), Ramzan Cirakoglu (Turkey), Rob Bruntink (The Netherlands), Nynke Thien (The Netherlands), Cindy Hegger (USA) and Zana Saunders (UK).
And a big thank you to all who participated. We appreciate all the wonderful photos submitted that celebrate the creativity and diversity of palliative care worldwide. We hope that you’ll enjoy the photos as much as we did and please – stay tuned for more ideas and opportunities to promote palliative care!
Links
- View all 13 winning photographs on the EAPC website
- Look out for more photographs from the competition on the EAPC website in the coming weeks and also on our Instagram account
- Read more posts about the EAPC World Congress in Berlin on the EAPC blog.
Editor’s note: This post is among the Top Ten most-viewed posts for the second half of 2019.
EAPC Blog 
This is truly amazing. Dr bunks stereotypes and reassures comfort.