Under the title “Professionals facing palliative care needs and suffering”, the WeCare Chair organised a new edition of the international workshop, which celebrated its tenth anniversary this year. It is aimed at professionals in medicine, nursing, psychology, social work and other areas that have contact with patients in the final stage of life. The meeting, which had the collaboration of Áltima and the Catalan Institute of Oncology, took place on Friday, 1 March. 

Dr Joaquim Julià, co-director of the WeCare Chair highlighted that “in this tenth edition of the workshop we wanted to share with professionals of medicine, nursing, psychology and social work the different tools we have to systematically assess the needs of people who require palliative care, without forgetting the support that health professionals also need to make the best decisions in this area.”

Dr Miguel Fombuena, head of the Internal Medicine Service of the Dr Moliner Hospital in Valencia, was in charge of opening the day with the inaugural lecture “Palliative care needs to reduce suffering in advanced disease”. In his speech, Fombuena described palliative care as “the medicine of never leaving someone alone”, and highlighted the importance of teamwork and self-care of professionals to reduce their own suffering so they can support the patient with empathy, respect and proximity. The expert also encouraged all professionals working in the field of palliative care “to be very aware of their limitations and strengths” and to understand the situation of each patient with an open mind and give the best response to their needs.

The day continued with two lectures focused on assessing the need for palliative care from the perspective of the patient, family and professional, and on the importance of agreeing on a clinical guide to carry out this evaluation during early appointments.

Dr Julià was in charge of moderating the round table “Advantages of a Systematic Approach to Palliative Care Needs”, with speakers such as Dr Pablo Noguera, palliative care physician of Grup Mutuam; Dr Lina Nitola, palliative care doctor of the Catalan Institute of Oncology of Badalona and Dr María Jimeno of the Cuides Clinic of UIC Barcelona.

The second part of the workshop focused on the wish to hasten death (WTHD). Attendees were able to learn about and discuss the clinical approach to the WTHD; how professionals evaluate it and how Spanish professionals handle it with specialists in the topic such as Dr Cristina Monforte, co-director of the Chair and international reference in the study and evaluation of the WTHD. 

Dr Oscar Rodriguez, psychiatrist at the prestigious Hospital Médica Sur (Mexico), gave the final presentation of the workshop titled “The wish to hasten death in advanced illness: how a psychiatrist can help.” After his speech, Dr Albert Balaguer, coordinator of the WeCare Chair was responsible for closing the tenth edition of the international conference.