Patients and health professionals work to raise awareness of the importance of equitable access to palliative care

MADRID, October 8 (European press) –

On the occasion of World Palliative Care Day, which is celebrated on Saturday, the Spanish Association of Palliative Care Nursing (AECPAL) and the FFPaciente Association of Patients and Health Professionals, have launched a campaign stressing the importance of ensuring equitable access to palliative care for all those who need it.

According to the slogan proposed this year by the World Elderly Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA), “Leave no one behind,” they have designed an entire calendar of activities designed so that residents know what palliative care is, who it is directed at, when it can be requested and to what extent it reduces suffering and improves The well-being of people facing life-threatening and life-threatening illnesses, their loved ones and their caregivers.

“We believe patients and their families, as well as health professionals, should know that palliative care is a universal right,” explains AECPAL Vice President and Campaign Coordinator, Manuela Monleone.

However, he continues, in Spain, as in other countries of the world, there are differences in care between the autonomous communities, “so the care depends on the needs that each of the autonomous governments think they have, a situation you should not present yourself” . He warned that “a person who resides in one area or another today does not have the same access to palliative care that would prefer the presence of first- and second-class citizens in terms of palliative care.”

For the representative of this association, Pedro Soriano, who leads projects and initiatives aimed at “strengthening peer support, highlighting the unmet needs of patients and preferring contact between them and health professionals”, this campaign is the result of an alliance that allows “joining efforts towards a common goal, caring for people” .

Ensuring that this is the case for all citizens is the goal of all actions to be carried out under the World Palliative Care Day in the hands of FFPaciente and AECPAL.

Thus, throughout this month, several media activities were programmed, including the dissemination of “palliative advice” on social networks, a study on palliative care in “El Podcast del Paciente” (a space recorded by FFPaciente in nurses’ frequency studies), various videos of professionals and patients and their families about what palliative care means to them, an Instagram Live and webinar organized with the support of the At the End of Life Project.

The idea is to improve knowledge about palliative care among patients and their families, “the most important part and to which our care is directed,” notes Manuela Monleone, who highlights the importance of making such care accessible, but also comprehensive and of quality.

To do this, it is necessary to “early identify the palliative needs of each person and their environment, increase the resources available across the country and achieve personal recognition and professional training for those working in palliative care.”

Statement and signature collection at “CHANGE.ORG”

Specifically to achieve these goals, as well as within the proposals designed on the occasion of World Day, the Spanish Society of Palliative Care launched a manifesto and set of signatures on the ‘Change.org’ platform to ensure the existence of the Law on Care, Safeguards and End-of-Life Care and to promote recognition of palliative care as a specialty within the national health system ( SNS).

The purpose of this initiative, developed with the support of the Trascendere Association, is to ensure that professionals, organizations and citizens in general join these demands and raise their voices to demand that their right to quality palliative care be guaranteed, which prioritizes needs. and the wishes of each patient through a comprehensive approach and multidisciplinary teamwork.