Sandra Martins Pereira is the first Portuguese citizen to chair the Scientific Committee of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) Congress, the world's largest palliative care conference.
The Principal Investigator of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), in the area of Ethics and Sustainability, at the Centre for Studies in Management and Economics (CEGE) of Católica Porto Business School, played the role of Chair of the Scientific Committee of the 18th World Congress of the EAPC. Under the motto "Equity and Diversity", the event was held in Rotterdam from June 15 to 17th, bringing together professionals and researchers in the area from more than 50 associations from 30 countries.
In the opening ceremony, following words from the Dutch Minister of Health, Sandra Martins Pereira, highlighted the importance of fostering an integrated approach to palliative care, focusing on the core theme of the congress, and underlined the importance of investing in innovative and essential research to reduce inequities and improve the life quality of people with palliative needs and their families. The full speech can be found here.
During four days, the participants had the opportunity to share valuable experiences, practices, and knowledge related to the theme "Equity and Diversity", promoting the ongoing improvement of palliative care and emphasizing the importance of ensuring equal access to this support, regardless of cultural, social or economic background.
The researcher points out that her participation " acknowledges CEGE's work developed in the Ethics and Sustainability Research area, specifically in palliative care", reinforcing that the research center is now exploring ethical and organizational aspects of health care and the comparative effectiveness of different models of care provision. "There is also PAL-CYCLES, a project focused on transitions of care that aim to improve the quality of life and care provided to patients with advanced cancer and their families. Within PAL-CYCLES, we lead the Work Package on Ethical, sociocultural and policy analysis and are part of the Executive Committee".
Participating in this congress also signed the unofficial kick-off of a new COST Action in which members of the Ethics and Sustainability Research Area at CEGE are part of the main group of proposers and will develop and lead two education programs: Empowering leadership; and Ethics in palliative and end-of-life care.
Besides reinforcing Portugal's position at the forefront of palliative care research nationally and internationally, the researcher's participation in this congress proves CEGE's commitment to promoting innovative research in Ethics and Sustainability.
