From June 15 - 17, the EAPC World Congress took take place in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. On Friday June 16, discussions revolved around  paediatric palliative care. It was such an inspiring day full of joy, time together talking and listening to great speakers. Read some highlights of the day below.

The Paediatric Day at the EAPC Congress was packed with interesting and informative presentations. The morning started with a breakfast session about Advance Care Planning with children and young people, parents and professionals which drew so many people in.

It makes me happy to start this day with research, which has practical impact - Lorna Fraser 

Clinician Suffering - people need to be heard, need time and individual mechanism for self-care

The first half of the morning focused on the theme 'Witness to suffering'. Danai Papadatou, Stephen Liben and Barbara Sourkes talked about the importance of knowing what we do, why we are doing it, and what drives us into palliative care. It is  the base of palliative care and we need to move from being 'only' empathic to also having self-compassion. As easy as it sounds, it is often a difficult step to allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough. People need to be heard, need time and individual mechanisms for self care, and by people, we mean all of us. Not only patients and caregivers but also us, the professionals.

International research

The results of important international research in the field of paediatric palliative care were shared during 12 short presentations, each one inspiring and valuable. For example:

A podcast for families caring for a child who is dying
Inspiring to hear were the podcast series with parents and carers talking about their daily lives, struggles, sharing experiences. It gives parents self-paced time to listen to the other parents’ stories, what they can bare at the moment and feel this unique experience of sharing.

I ended up to be beautifully messed - Julia Anania 

Newly published Dutch guidelines of children's palliative care
Erna Michiels and Kim van Teunenbroek talked about the newly published Dutch guidelines of children’s palliative care which, in its entirety, is evidence based. The recommendation will be translated into English soon.

Palliative care for everyone, also for people and children on the move
Taking care of children with palliative care in humanitarian settings has many challenges as Julia Downing showed in her talk from a refugee camp in Uganda, co-operating with local hospices. Many organisations working in refugee camps are starting to include more and more palliative care in their services, such as MSF, UNICEF, ICRC.

What happens as we die?
Most of us have never seen anyone die. Few have any idea what to expect as death approaches, and most have unrealistic fears about it. Kathryn Mannix wants to change that. Listen to her TEDx Talk or read her great book entitled “With the End in Mind”.

We choose our words with a same intention as surgeon choose is surgical instruments - Kathryn Mannix

New board

EAPC has a new board and paediatrics are now represented on it. Ana Lacerda, oncologist and palliative care doctor from Portugal, chair of the Reference Group for Children and Young People EAPC was elected as one of the new board members. Ana: "We need to make sure that paediatrics are literally mentioned in all strategic documents, countries’ policies and guidelines as we tend to forget that there are children with palliative needs as well". Congratulations Ana!

On to 2025!

It was the best Paediatric day put together so far - Fin Craig

Fin’s words leave us with an even bigger challenge for the next Paediatric Day in Helsinki, Finland, in 2025. You can be part of it. And if you have some tips for the programme, please contact us.