Expanding horizons of hospice and palliative care across the Asia-Pacific

Since its inception the Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Network (APHN) has grown from strength to strength both in terms of reach and impact, as its individual and organizational members have forged pathways of meaningful connection through ongoing dialogue and collaborative innovation to meet the growing needs of those across the Asia-Pacific region. From humble beginnings, when the first Asia Pacific Hospice Conference (APHC) took place in Singapore, 1989, international delegates have contributed to and benefited from increasingly diverse and advanced gatherings to promote improvements in clinical practice, education, and research, while celebrating common ground and progress in overcoming shared challenges [1].

The most recent of these gatherings – the 15th Asia Pacific Hospice Palliative Care Conference – was hosted by the Korean Society for Hospice and Palliative Care, held in October 2023 at the Songdo Convensia, Incheon, Republic of Korea. Over four days, more than 1250 delegates from 27 countries were treated to an engaging feast of stimulating workshops, plenary presentations, and concurrent sessions covering a comprehensive and holistic variety of contemporary topics.

In honor of the 2023 World Hospice and Palliative Care Day theme, Compassionate Communities: Together for Palliative Care, a morning event was held for everyone to form an informal network in Songdo Hanok Village while enjoying a group walk through Incheon Songdo Central Park. Following the Taipei Declaration for Health-Promoting Palliative Care in 2017 [2], the vital role and contributions of compassionate communities have received growing recognition as an asset-based public health approach to support sustainable community development in hospice and palliative care [3–5]. This special event, together with a compelling plenary by Professor Wang Ying Wei - on compassion and healing in transforming palliative care in the community – underscored shared responsibility in end-of-life care as a hallmark of those compassionate communities spreading across the Asia Pacific [5].

Perhaps the highlight of the conference for delegates was the tremendous privilege of listening to a keynote address from Dr Rosalie Shaw, who was instrumental in setting up the APHN and was appointed its first Executive Director in 1999. Rosalie shared insights into the early days of the network, including the meaning of its logo – a stalk of rice, the staple grain of the region; it is green, the color of vitality and growth; and the circle made by the bent stalk is broken, just as the lives of our palliative care patients have been broken by their terminal illness.

Echoing the career of Dame Cicely Saunders, Rosalie trained first as a teacher, then as a nurse, and then as a doctor. She established the first hospital-based palliative care unit in Australia at Hollywood Hospital in Perth, and was invited by the late Professor Cynthia Goh, a pioneer of palliative care in the Asia-Pacific region, to establish Singapore’s first hospice home care service in 1992. Together, they were strong advocates for palliative care training and continuing education of physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals in the Asia-Pacific [6]. Planning to stay for just one year – Rosalie ended up staying in Singapore for 18 years. Those at the conference fortunate to spend time personally interacting with Rosalie were struck by her warmth and kindness, her genuineness, and her authenticity. The warm greetings she received from many past colleagues at the conference were a testament to the powerful connections she established wherever she worked.

Overall, the organizing committees are to be commended on the planning and execution of such a memorable event, reflecting on the expanding horizons of hospice and palliative care across the Asia-Pacific. Both scientific and social programs, including cultural artistic and culinary delights from the host nation, left conference delegates eager to reconvene once again at the 16th APHC, to be held in 2025 at Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak, Malaysia.