AGE organises User Forum on good quality palliative care

Palliative care helps improve the quality of life of people with serious or life-threatening health issues. Evidence shows that a good provision of palliative care has positive effects on the person as well as the family. However, the traditional conception of palliative care focuses exclusively in the end of life, and many people who would need it do not currently have access to quality palliative care.

PACE, comparing the effectiveness of Palliative Care for Elderly people in long-term care facilities in Europe, is a European project in which AGE platform Europe is involved as partner. PACE aims at producing evidence that can help challenge misconceptions and the gap in the provision of palliative care. The project will analyse existing legislation and policies in the European countries. It will also test an intervention to implement palliative care in nursing homes and institutions of six countries – United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Finland and Poland – for older people and compare its effectiveness.

Within the project, AGE is co-leading the User Forum, a setting where different experts from AGE Platform and Alzheimer Europe will discuss along the project lifespan the situation in Europe. This group will also follow the evolution of the project and produce key policy messages that will feed the policy recommendations that the project will deliver by 2019.

This first User Forum took place in Brussels last 25 September. It was a well-attended session where project partners and experts with experience in health, long-term care and palliative care could meet to share views and start building consensus on the main policy and practice challenges facing the delivery of quality palliative care. There was an agreement that the conception of palliative care needs to be open to cover health situations happening well before the end of life. Comprehensive policy approaches and the need to involve all health professionals were highlighted as key elements needed to make this happen. Supportive social environments and the inclusion of a more open conception of palliative care in trainings and university curricula were also cited as major areas where policies should be adapted.

You can find the meeting report here.

The PACE User Forum will meet again in 2018. If you want more information, you can contact Borja Arrue, borja.arrue@age-platform.eu