75% of the world’s population have no – or inadequate – access to controlled medicines for pain relief. This means that, for many people, a diagnosis of a serious illness such as cancer brings not only a traumatic confrontation with mortality, but also the fear – and reality – of excruciating pain. Pain serves the evolutionary… Continue reading
Santiago Corrêa writes about his community palliative care project Estar ao Seu Lado (We are by your side) in the south of Brazil. In Portuguese followed by a version in English. O Projeto Estar ao Seu Lado é desenvolvido no município de Rio Grande ao sul do Brasil. A população atendida pela nossa equipe é… Continue reading
Lars Johan Materstvedt, a professor of philosophy working in medical ethics, writes in response to Professor David Clark’s post Assisted suicide, euthanasia and the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC). Lars Johan is former Chair of the Ethics Task Force on Palliative Care and Euthanasia at the EAPC. The EAPC on euthanasia, 2003 and 2016 After reading… Continue reading
We all have clear ideas about ways we would prefer or prefer not to end our lives. We would prefer not to be in serious pain, would like to be surrounded by loved ones, we want to die in a humane environment, and so on. What is less clear is how to pull these desires… Continue reading
Melanie Reid’s article appeared in The Times Magazine on Saturday 19 March 2016, and is republished here with the kind permission of the author. Spinal column: matters of life and death ‘I’m very happy to talk about death. I’ve learnt it isn’t remotely the worst thing that can happen’ An icy night in early March,… Continue reading
As academics in palliative care in Scotland (David Clark, Marie Fallon and Scott Murray) we are delighted to see the prominent place given to research in the recently-published Scottish Government Strategic Framework for Action on Palliative and End of Life Care (2016-21). The Framework and the supporting evidence report not only draw heavily on recent… Continue reading
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been reflecting on how generous people can be with their time and their experiences, even when times are impossibly tough. I’ve worked for the charity Parkinson’s UK for the last eight years. In that time I have met hundreds of people whose reality is dominated by the emotional and… Continue reading
Carlos Centeno remembers his first meeting with Cicely Saunders in her famous collection The Management of Terminal Malignant Disease. He describes the influence of that book in his decision to become a palliative care doctor and the later influence of another meeting in another of Cicely´s books: Watch with Me. This reflection illustrates the influences she has had,… Continue reading
