Madrid Day 2… a rosette!

May 22 2017

Merryn writes…

A very busy day with many highlights. Aileen won a prize for her poster – one of the top 3 abstracts in her category. We all coveted her green rosette (her first since Pony Club!)

There was a lot of interest in the posters Jackie and I were showing as well. People particularly liked the beautiful whakatauki (Māori proverb) Tess had written for the poster I presented about our HRC Te Pakeketanga project:

Anō nei he Pōukutukawa korua, e whātoro ana I ōna here.  Ki ōna takiaho. E hii au te kaha.

(Just as the Pohutukawa, whose roots seek out those of its kind to be strong, so too must we cling to each other).

This had real resonance with the key message of the research I presented in the poster – namely that there is a need for communities to come together to support people dying in advanced age.

I also think this is a lovely motto for our group and for what we are trying to achieve in palliative care overall.

My presentation was also really well received. The audience felt that what we are doing with this sort of work is ‘refreshing’, ‘innovative’ and ‘inspiring’ which was really great to hear. There was much interest in Ros Capper’s book – for more information about her work, and details of how to buy her fantastic book, please see her website: http://www.accidentalcarer.com