ARDSI Hyderabad Deccan at the IAPCON 2015
Indian Institute of Palliative Care in association with MNJ Institute of Oncology and Pain and Palliative Care Society, Hyderabad organized the International conference of Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPCON) 2015 from February 13-15 at the HICC, Novotel. The conference brought together a multitude of national and international experts in the area of palliative care and other related areas from different parts of the world.
ARDSI Hyderabad Deccan and Memory Clinic staff members were able to participate in this conference by presenting papers and facilitate sessions on relevant topics. Ms Divya Raj presented her ideas on 'Dementia Syndromes: Identifying subtypes and stage of disease matters while developing services for care' which threw light on the work being done with patients at the Memory Clinic and at ARDSI Hyd Deccan. Further she facilitated a panel discussion on 'Integrated care-Dementia' in which dementia experts such as Dr Suvarna Alladi, neurologist and president of ARDSI Hyderabad Deccan, Dr KS Shahji, and Dr Doug Ennals spoke about the different aspects of palliative care for dementia patients and families. Ms Amulya Rajan elaborated about the work being done at the ARDSI Hyderabad Deccan activity centre through her paper on 'Person centered Dementia Care in an Activity Centre Setting'. Additionally she facilitated a session on 'Psychological issues in Palliative Care' which comprised of a case study presentation by different experts in the field of psycho-oncology such as Dr David Kissane, Dr Jairam Ramakrishnan, Dr Anju Mathews, and Ms Shravanthi with chairpersons Dr Meena Hariharan and Dr Venugopal. The session focused on rarely addressed issues in palliative care such as grief and bereavement, sleep, sexuality and suicidality.
The conference was very successful in bringing together diverse world views about palliative care including current research in the area, current trends, experiences of caregivers and care providers, and directions for future development.
