IAHPC Hospice Palliative Care News Digest, May 2020

Table of Contents

Message from the Chair and Executive Director  As the pandemic progresses, we offer heartfelt thanks to everyone in the health care field, and remind decision-makers, providers, and civil society organizations of our list of COVID-19 palliative care tools and resources.

Letter to the Editor  A response by authors of the Field Manual for Palliative Care in Humanitarian Crises to the book’s review in the April issue of the Newsletter.

Policy and Advocacy  Katherine Pettus reports on a COVID-19 inspired collaboration between four palliative care organizations to generate informational webinars and briefing notes relevant to our membership.

Dr. Claudia Burlá

IAHPC News & Calendar

• Schedule of COVID-19 & Palliative Care webinars.
• 20% off all memberships in May: now as low as $15, for individuals in low-income countries.
• COVID-10 & Palliative Care webpage: links to online resources.
• Survey on COVID-19 preparedness in Africa.
• Pallipedia: 13 new definitions listed.
• What’s New in the IAHPC Calendar of Events.

Featured Story  Dr. Claudia Burlá on frailty — a common but complex condition among older adults, and an emerging global health burden with clear links to palliative care.

IAHPC Book Reviews

BOOK OF THE MONTH

DEAR LIFE: A Doctor’s Story of Love and Loss  Musings of a palliative care physician, and how she dealt with her own father’s terminal illness. First class.

OTHER REVIEWS

• SAVING LIVES. SAVING DIGNITY. A Unique End-of-Life Perspective From Two Emergency Physicians  A very sound book for the lay reader to understand the decisions that have to be made with the seriously or terminally ill.
• END OF LIFE COMMUNICATION: Stories from the Dead Zone  A discussion of end-of-life communication, using material from a pediatric palliative care unit, the media, and the humanities.
• PALLIATIVE CARE: The Role and Importance of Research in Promoting Palliative Care Practices – Reports from Developing Countries. Volumes 2 and 3  Essays on research and the development of palliative care, with an emphasis on the developing world.
• MUSIC THERAPY IN CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S PALLIATIVE CARE  All about music therapy in paediatric palliative care.
• THE CAREGIVER’S ENCYCLOPEDIA: A Compassionate Guide to Caring for Older Adults  Information for those caring for an aging relative, partner, or friend. The negotiation of the health care system is focused on the USA.

IAHPC App Review  An interview with Dr. Romayne Gallagher on iPal Global, a free phone app designed for resource-constrained countries that puts palliative care intel in clinicians’ hands.

Lessons from the Literature

UNDER MY MICROSCOPE  An article on COVID-19 patients and their outcomes, by a team of researchers at King’s College London, catches the eye of IAHPC Research Advisor Dr. Tania Pastrana.

MEDIA WATCH  Barry Ashpole delivers a mixed bag of articles: research priorities, PC services in COVID-19, integrating oncology and PC, assessing the desire to die, and long-term care.

Membership Matters

• Our Lifetime Members, 2004-2007
• New & Renewing Members’ List

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