Category Archives: Tweet chat

#PalliCOVID #PallANZ tweetchat 5/5

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#PalliCOVID #PallANZ 5_5

Check in with other Australians and New Zealanders involved and/or interested in palliative care during the COVID-19 pandemic during our third #PalliCOVID #PallANZ tweetchat on Tuesday 05/05/2020.

Join our special guests Rohan Greenland @PCACEO (CEO of Palliative Care Australia @Pall_Care_Aus) and Dr Richard Thurlow @Richt13Thurlow (Board Chair of Hospice New Zealand) to share your experiences and exchange resources.

When?

Who?

  • Palliative care clinicians, researchers, managers, policymakers, patients and carers
  • Interested / involved in helping our communities live, die and grieve well in the face of the life-threatening COVID-19 / novel Coronavirus pandemic
  • Living or working in Australia and New Zealand

How?

What?

We hope you can join us for another great discussion!

 

#PalliCOVID #PallANZ tweetchat 7/4

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#PalliCOVID #PallANZ (3)

Please join us for another tweetchat on Tuesday 07/04/2020 to discuss palliative care in Australia and New Zealand during the COVID-19 / novel Coronavirus pandemic. Find out from special guests Prof Meera Agar @meera_agar (Board Chair of Palliative Care Australia @Pall_Care_Aus) and A/Prof Leeroy William @drleeroyw (President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine @ANZSPM) what has been happening in this space since our last tweetchat – and share your experiences and resources with other palliative care practitioners from across our region!

When?

Who?

  • Palliative care clinicians, researchers, managers, policymakers, patients and carers
  • Interested / involved in helping our communities live, die and grieve well in the face of the life-threatening COVID-19 / novel Coronavirus pandemic
  • Living or working in Australia and New Zealand

How?

What?

  • Topic 1: Social distancing rules (e.g. restricting visitors & limiting funeral gatherings) have changed the way we care for the dying & grieve for the dead. How can we help patients & families to live well, die well, grieve well AND flatten the curve?
  • Topic 2: Telehealth and working-from-home poses unique challenges to a touchy-feely, team-based specialty like palliative care. Please share a story about how you’ve adapted (or not!) to these evolving work practices.
  • Topic 3: Meera & Leeroy – can you please give us an update on the work of the Australian COVID-19 Palliative Care Working Group? Does anyone else have any updates / policies / resources that they would like to share?

We hope you can join us for another great discussion!

 

#PalliCOVID #PallANZ tweetchat 23/3

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#PalliCOVID #PallANZ

Please join us and other palliative care clinicians from across Australia and New Zealand on Monday 23/03/2020 for a tweetchat on the COVID-19 / novel Coronavirus pandemic.

When?

Who?

  • Palliative care clinicians, researchers, managers, policymakers, patients and carers
  • Interested / involved in helping our communities live, die and grieve well in the face of the life-threatening COVID-19 / novel Coronavirus pandemic
  • Living or working in Australia and New Zealand

How?

What?

  • Topic 1: Please share a story about your #COVID19 #Coronavirus experience so far – at work, at home and/or online
  • Topic 2: Have you come across any useful #COVID19 #Coronavirus resources that others might find helpful?
  • Topic 3: How can we look after ourselves and each other during the #COVID19 #Coronavirus pandemic?

We hope you can join us for a great discussion about this global public health challenge!

 

Journal club on delirium #hpmjc

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Delirium is a syndrome associated with a sudden change in a person’s mental function that interferes with their thinking and awareness. It is a common problem that confronts many patients, families and clinicians in the palliative care setting. Delirium usually develops as a result of a serious medical condition, which can often be found and treated. However, the symptoms of delirium – such as fluctuating confusion, reduced attention, disturbed sleep-wake cycle, and/or hallucinations – can be very distressing for everyone involved, and may persist for many days to weeks.

Medications – including antipsychotics such as haloperidol and risperidone – are often used to manage the symptoms of delirium. But do they actually work?

To answer this question, Professor Meera Agar (@meera_agar) and colleagues from the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative (PaCCSC) conducted a study examining the use of these medications. The results of their research was published in JAMA Internal Medicine recently, and also discussed on various media platforms (examples here, here and here).

Please join Hospice and Palliative Medicine Journal Club (#hpmjc) in January 2017 for an in-depth discussion about this important study. The journal club will be hosted by Chi Li (@Dr_Chi_Li) from Palliverse and feature the paper’s first author, Meera Agar (@meera_agar)!

When? The hour-long online journal club will start at (please note the different dates):

  • Auckland: 9am, Tuesday 24th January
  • Sydney: 7am, Tuesday 24th January
  • London: 8pm, Monday 23rd January
  • New York / Toronto: 3pm, Monday 23rd January
  • Other cities

Who? Anyone and everyone who has:

  • Experienced delirium themselves
  • Cared for or lived with someone with delirium
  • An interest in improving the treatment of delirium
  • An interest in enhancing palliative care

How? It’s easy!

What? We will be discussing the following topics during the journal club

  • Topic 1: Why was the study conducted? Are the study questions / aims relevant to you and/or your work?
  • Topic 2: How was the study conducted? What did you like about the study methodology? Would you have done anything differently?
  • Topic 3: What were the main findings from the study? Were you surprised by any of the study results?
  • Topic 4: Has this study changed the way you think about delirium in the palliative care setting? Why and why not? What’s next?

If you would like more information, or are having trouble accessing the paper, please feel free to contact us via Twitter (@Dr_Chi_Li or @palliverse) or by email (chi.li.australia@gmail.com or palliverse@gmail.com).

We hope you can join us for a great discussion about this important study!

 

Living with grief & loss: #PallANZ chat

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Grief and loss is something we will all face at different times throughout our lives. Whether it is the death of our pets, our friends, our children, siblings or parents; the experience and expression of grief in response to these losses can be a very personal and individual thing. Grief can also arise in anticipation of loss. For those living with life-limiting illness, living with the loss of social role and professional identity can be especially challenging.

Thoughts about old, new and future losses can be particularly common during the festive season. For some of us, it may represent an anniversary of the death of a loved one, and bring with it painful memories of loss. Some might be facing their first Christmas ‘alone’, while others may be grappling with the possibility of celebrating their ‘last Christmas’.

While living with grief and loss is a personal experience, we don’t have to endure it on our own. As a community, there are many ways that we can support each other. Join Palliverse and Palliative Care Australia CEO Liz Callaghan (@PCACEO) to reflect on 2016 and talk about grief and loss.

Carers and people with palliative care needs are especially welcome, as are health professionals, researchers, policymakers and interested community members!

If you are new to twitter and tweet chats, see our “idiot’s guide” here: https://palliverse.com/2014/09/03/idiots-guide-to-twitter-for-health-professionals-twitter-101/

Continue reading →

#ANZSPM16 tweet chat: Medicinal cannabis and palliative care

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In recent years scientific research into the effects of cannabinoids has been on the increase. Some would say that not-so-scientific research on the effects of cannabis has been underway for many hundreds of years, in many different countries and cultures.

Until recently I didn’t know that our own bodies produce endogenous cannabinoids, the various effects of which are still being studied. 

Two years ago, colleagues had informed me that at the Montreal Conference 2015 it was a ‘smokingly hot’ topic. The most widely studied cannabis-derived cannabinoids are Cannabidiol (CBD) and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC.) You may have heard of some of the medications that have ‘come to market’ since then:  Continue reading →

#ANZSPM16 tweet chat: the (hidden) cost of caring

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A game changer at the recent Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative medicine 2016 Conference (#ANZSPM16) was Dr Merryn Gott’s plenary presentation on the hidden costs of caring. Little is known about the financial impact of caring for people at the end of life.

She detailed some powerful anecdotes, including the story of two sisters whose mother lay dying in a hospital. The cost of parking was prohibitive and the daughters took it in turns to sit in the car watching out for the parking inspector. When their mother died, only one of the daughters was there; the other was in the car. Continue reading →

Art therapy for the palliative care clinician

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I had wanted to learn to paint for many years, and finally found the time to take some classes during my research fellowship year. It was really good fun and I loved it. Unfortunately, my fellowship year soon finished and clinical commitments meant I could no longer attend the classes.

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Nevertheless, I decided that I would keep painting, once a week (usually on a Wednesday), just for me. At the end of a busy day, it’s often easier to just slump on the couch and watch some TV. I’ll be honest, sometimes the couch wins. However, I do manage to drag myself out of the house again most Wednesdays, get myself down to the studio for a couple of ours of what I fancifully call my ‘art therapy’ before bed. And when I do, I never regret it.

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As you can see, I’m just a beginner and still have a lot to learn about painting. But I love losing myself in the work, just thinking about form and colour – anything other than patients and families and suffering and medicine, or audits or guidelines or research or presentations. I also love heading out and painting outdoors when I can get away.

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If you also like painting, or any other form of art – please join us for #PallANZ tweet chat on the 29th, which will be on the topic of “palliative care and the arts”! You can find the details here.

#pallanz tweetchat 29/9: Palliative care and the arts **N.B. This chat will be at 10pm NZT due to daylight savings**

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For as long as our culture has being making art death, dying, and exploring the meaning of our fragile mortal lives have been key themes.  Historically the arts have framed our practices around preparing for dying, celebrating lives, and pondered the traverse into the unknown.  Artists of antiquity often used their media to describe the care for the dying and the dead, reflecting a palliative focus of the arts which continues to this day.

 

Continue reading →

#ANZSPM16 Wrap up

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Days two and three of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine (ANZSPM) 2016 Conference: The Changing Landscape of Palliative Care was just as brilliant as the first. The plenary sessions featured:

  • Merryn Gott (@MerrynGott) spoke about the ‘last taboo’ in our community: the invisible and sometimes unexpected costs of providing care at the end of life, which are often not explored in clinical and almost never measured in policymaking and research. She also discussed  the impact of culture, ethnicity and gender on who is bearing these financial and non-financial costs. To find our more, read her open access @PalliativeMedJ article here.
  • Meera Agar (@meera_agar) discussed the growing evidence base around delirium care in the palliative care setting. Management of this complex, distressing, life-threatening, but often reversible syndrome is challenging. Non-pharmacological strategies and a system-wide approach to organizing and delivering care are crucial, as research into various drug treatments continue to demonstrate a lack of clear benefit and the potential for harm. Meera recommends iDelirium for more information about this important area of palliative care.
  • Pippa Hawley reflected on the lack of evidence around the use of medicinal cannabis – despite the immense interest from (and considerable experience of) our communities. How should clinicians respond while the scientific and legal issues are sorted out? Ask questions, keep an open mind & work with our patients!
  • Douglas McGregor explored the interface between heart failure and palliative care. He referenced Sarah Goodlin’s open access article, Merryn Gott’s study while discussing prognostic uncertainty and clinician paralysis; and observed that most guidelines still see palliative care as relevant only at the very end of life, rather than a key component of chronic disease management. Amy Gadaud’s (@agadoud) review was flagged as a good place to start when considering issues around early integration.
  • Sam Bloore stimulated and inspired delegates with his fascinating talk about dying well in a culture of bitcoin and botox. How can palliative care adapt, survive and thrive in this changing cultural landscape characterized by information overload, mindless distraction and incoherence? We must remain a “subversive” counterculture and continue to strive towards caring deeply and meaningfully!

In addition to these amazing plenaries, fully (and at times even over-)subscribed workshops on the overlap between palliative care and addiction medicine / chronic pain, aged care, literature and the arts were held, alongside numerous excellent oral and poster presentations from specialists and trainees. The enthusiastic and well-informed audience present during all of the sessions was another highlight for me (and I’m sure all of the other speakers and delegates)!

It’s been a wonderful few days in Perth. A big thank you to the Conference organizing committee, chaired by Derek Eng (@dr_engd), for inviting team @Palliverse to be part of this great event. Thanks also to all of you for engaging with #ANZSPM16 on social media. Keep an eye out for our upcoming tweet chats, during which we will continue the conversation about the changing landscape of palliative care!