Local palliative care nurse Caroline Short will attend an international conference in the United Kingdom in May, thanks to a $5000 scholarship from the Lions Club’s Nurse’s Scholarship Foundation.
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The Health Promoting Palliative Care conference aims to include and empower communities by creating compassionate supportive community environments that ultimately nurture and support all ill and grieving people.
The conference will also provide the opportunity for participants to have first-hand discussions at various sites where this approach has been successfully implemented.
Mrs. Short said she applied for the scholarship because she has always been deeply interested in public health philosophy.
“The principle of health promotion is a hard concept for many people to apply when thinking about palliative care, however there is a growing movement of professionals from many walks of life working together to bring about this understanding in many ways,” she said.
“Applying a health promoting lens helps identify what is needed to address problems or issues much more broadly and dynamically than if you see the problem or issues as belonging to individuals rather than communities.
“For example, in palliative care we see many people with life-limiting illnesses and help them and their families to address many problems, issues and symptoms holistically, so looking at the individual within their family, within their environment, and within their community.
“Identifying local needs, and harnessing local interest and energy is essential, as the possibilities for cultural change are endless.
“The conference is about creating community compassion and capacity and has opportunities to visit sites where programs have been implemented where you can talk with the people involved about the cultural changes experienced by them through participation.”
On her return in June, Cessnock Lions will host Mrs. Short for a presentation of the results of the conference and what it will mean to the palliative care service provided in the Cessnock, Kurri and Singleton areas.
In presenting the scholarship cheque, Cessnock Lions Club president Ian Anderson said: “Our local Lions Club is proud to be one of the many Lions clubs who have contributed to the Lions Nurses Scholarship Foundation, making such opportunities available”.