5 November 2024
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The 6th edition of the Congress saw the involvement of over 450 participants from 48 countries. It was the biggest event yet organised by the Maruzza Foundation, in fact attendee registration had to be closed earlier than foreseen due to the capacity restrictions of the venue. The attendees were divided professionally as follows: 37% doctors, 27% nurses, 6% psychologist, the remainder included researchers, students, volunteers, physiotherapists, sociologists, social workers etc.). Abstract submission for the 2024 edition also exceeded expectations, 207 abstracts were submitted for peer-review; 193 abstracts were accepted for presentation during the Congress; 49 abstracts were designated for oral presentations during the working sessions and 144 abstracts assigned for the virtual poster exhibition. Abstracts were submitted from a vast range of countries worldwide including: Brazil, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Mexico, Ukraine, Uruguay, Hong Kong, etc.
Four pre-congress workshops providing knowledge-sharing opportunities on different themes of significant interest and lead by eminent, international experts were organised to precede the congress. 142 participants attended the 4 eight-hour workshops that dealt with the following subjects: Perinatal PPC (Coordinators: Brian S. Carter, Maria Azucena Niño Tovar, Tanja Pedersen); Communicating Bad News (Coordinators: Justin N. Baker, Esther H. Ammon, Michelle R. Brown); The Management of Pain and Troublesome Symptoms in PPC (Coordinators: Poh Heng Chong, Ross Drake, Michelle Koh); Difficult Choices: Bioethical Strategy (Coordinators: Joana Mendes, Marie Friedel, Daniel Garros).
Immediately following the pre-congress workshops, the Congress’ Opening Ceremony on the 16th October began with the announcement of the Maruzza Foundation 25th Anniversary celebrations through the projection of a brief film outlining the Foundation’s journey in PPC. The proceedings were presided by the Maruzza Foundation’s President, Silvia Lefebvre D’Ovidio, accompanied by the Foundation’s first Scientific Director, Dr Paolo Cornaglia. The Congress Chair, Prof. Franca Benini, assisted by the Congress’ Honorary President, Prof. Ann Goldman, and the 2024 Co-Chair, Prof Brian S. Carter, officially opened the 6th Congress. Three keynote lectures re aspects linked to the main theme of the Congress: ‘Roots And Horizons: Learning From Yesterday, Living Today, Shaping The Future’ were programmed, these included the intervention by the members of the Committee of Young Professionals called upon to organise part of the 6th Maruzza Congress’ scientific program.
During the evening’s proceedings the Maruzza Foundation President presented the Ventafridda Award 2024 to Prof. Danai Papadatou from Greece for her endeavours and commitment to promoting and developing palliative care in her country and beyond, specifically in the area of psychological support for children with serious illness and bereavement counselling for families and siblings (read motivations).
The family members of Mauro Sentinelli presented, in his memory, two scholarships for the Master’s Degree program in Pain Therapy and Paediatric Palliative Care proposed by Padua University and conferred by the Maruzza Foundation for the academic year 2023/2024 to Irene Avagnina and Anna Marinetto, and for the academic year 2024/2025 to Viviana Carbone and Giulia Cervi.
Finally, to end the Award presentations, Mr. Ondřej Vlček, the Founder of Vlček Family Foundation based in the Czeck Republic, presented the Young Researcher Awards 2024 for the best abstracts submitted by a leading author under 35 years, as adjudicated by the Scientific Committee. In third place with an abstract entitled: “Compassionate Extubation at home in Pediatric Palliative Care“, from Singapore, Grace Ng. and in second place with the abstract “Health and social care, professional views on decision making for place of a children’s end of life care“, from Ireland, Rachel Mccauley. The first prize of the Young Researcher Award for Best Abstract 2024, with the abstract “Cultural differences in shared decision-making in Paediatric Palliative Care“, was awarded to Luca Nicot from Germany.
The evening concluded with an amusing interlude by the street artist Paradoxa and his presentation ‘The Voyage of a Bubble’. At the end of the Opening Ceremony the Congress participants were invited to celebrate the Maruzza Foundation’s Silver jubilee at the Icebreaker cocktail and buffet.
Over the 2 days of the 2024 congress, 4 plenary sessions, each with 3 specialist lectures by international experts covering topics linked to the main theme of ‘Roots And Horizons’ were scheduled. These were interspersed with a total of 12 working sessions for the oral presentations and 4 virtual poster exhibitions of the selected abstracts. The range of topics covered included: ‘Pushing the Boundaries of PPC’, High tech in PPC, Perinatal and Neonatal PPC, Transitions Care for young adults, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in PPC, Diverse Cultural and Religious Practices, PPC delivery in LMIC, The Use of Assessment Tools and Surveys in PPC, End of life Care, Managing Serious Illness In The Family Home etc.
Both days began with a 30-minute introductory ‘Gaining Insight’ session that proposed novel topics linked to Children’s palliative care provision: ‘AI and Robotics’ in PPC and ‘The Use of Telephone Interview for Emergencies at Home’.
Particularly appreciated were the 3 parallel focus/networking sessions held at the end of the first day which fostered discussion and interaction between participants on the subjects: Shared Care Planning, Palliative Sedation and Self-compassion, Growth and Development for Healthcare Professionals in PPC.
The Congress concluded with an impeccable summing up of the congress procedures by the Congress Chairs and Honorary President, the Foundation’s President concluded by wishing the participants an uplifting ‘Arrivederci’ in Rome in 2026 for the 7th Maruzza International Congress on Paediatric Palliative Care.
During the days following the Congress, in collaboration with the EPEC-Pediatrics Team, the Maruzza Foundation proposed the ‘EPEC-Pediatrics Train the Trainer Workshop’ attended by 42 participants from 22 Countries and, for the first time in Europe, the ‘EPEC-Pediatrics Master Facilitator Program’ that offered the cutting-edge training to 21 participants from 11 Countries.