Paediatric Palliative Care Programme for Pacific Countries launched last week
Photograph of programme teaching team and participants in August 2024
Te Ārai member, Dr Gemma Aburn has recently partnered with Sir Collin Tukuitonga, Director of Te Poutoko Ora a Kiwa, to launch a multi-phase paediatric palliative care programme for clinicians working across the Pacific Islands.
Paediatric leaders were invited from each of the Aotearoa New Zealand supported Pacific countries: Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Niue to travel to Auckland to attend the two day workshop held last week. The teaching team for this workshop included clinical leaders in Paediatric Palliative Care, Leaders in development of Pacific programmes in the Child Cancer space and a Bereaved Parent: Dr Gemma Aburn (Paediatric Palliative Care Nurse Specialist & Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing), Dr Ross Drake (Paediatric Palliative Care and Complex Pain Specialist, Queensland Children’s Hospital), Dr Anthony Herbert (Paediatric Palliative Care Specialist, Queensland Children’s Hospital), Dr Stephen Laughton (National Child Cancer Network Clinical Lead & Paediatric Neuro-Oncologist, Starship Blood and Cancer Centre), Dr Mandy de Silva (Paediatric & AYA Oncologist, Starship Blood and Cancer Centre), Dr Jane Skeen (Retired Paediatric Oncologist, previously Starship Blood and Cancer Centre) and Mrs Sina Kami (Bereaved Parent & Founder/Director of WOWS Kids Fiji and the Tae Kami Foundation, Tonga).
The first phase of the programme was designed to support Paediatric clinicians in the Pacific to develop knowledge and skills in caring for children with palliative care needs, and to support them to be champions in Paediatric Palliative Care. In achieving this, the programme also supported development of teaching skills and provided space for preparation of sessions to take home to educate their colleagues about Paediatric Palliative Care. The hope of this train the trainer approach is that many more clinicians will receive training and support to develop knowledge about provision of palliative care for children.
It is hoped the programme will continue in 2025, with a further education programme in the Pacific Islands, where the teaching team will be joined by champions trained in 2024.
Read more here: Making living better for dying children - The University of Auckland
Contact Gemma at gemma.aburn@auckland.ac.nz if you are interested in finding out more about the programme.