Our Special Interest Workshops will be held on Thursday. They will be held over two sessions, 3 workshops running concurrently in the morning and 3 concurrently in the afternoon.
A workshop on Kidney Supportive Care (KSC) shall be conducted at the ANZSPM Conference in Launceston by the ANZSPM KSC Special Interest Group. The workshop will be suitable for junior and senior doctors working in Palliative Medicine. Topics shall include: an introduction to KSC, the role of Palliative Medicine in the care of kidney patients, decision-making around dialysis or a conservative pathway, symptom management in detail, advance care planning and care of the dying kidney patient. The Faculty will include leading experts in this area from the disciplines of Palliative Medicine and Nephrology.
Neuropalliative Care Workshop: Navigating Complex Symptoms and Decisions at the End of Life
Join experienced clinicians for an in‑depth and highly practical Neuropalliative Care Workshop, designed to equip you with clear frameworks and confidence when managing some of the most challenging scenarios in neurological illness, especially when patients are approaching the end of life.
This workshop will explore complex symptom management and decision‑making around, stridor and dysphagia, with a focused discussion on the evidence base—and real‑world role—of feeding tubes and tracheostomy in the contexts of neurodegenerative Diseases, including dementia, Motor Neurone Disease, Huntington’s Disease and other movement disorders.
Through expert-led case studies, participants will gain practical insights into navigating clinical uncertainty, aligning care with patient goals, and supporting patients and families through difficult conversations. The program will also highlight approaches to managing key symptoms such as chorea, dyskinesia and neuro-behavioral disturbance in movement disorders, including Parkinson’s Disease, especially as patients move into the late stages and and swallowing is compromised.
Whether you work in palliative care or primary care, this workshop offers clinically grounded, immediately applicable learning to enhance your practice caring for patients with progressive neurological diseases.
Presenters • Ms Ruth Hosken • Dr Aaron De Souza • Dr Sarah Lee • A/Prof Susan Mathers
Chair • A/Prof Fiona Runacres
Advance your skills. Deepen your understanding. Improve care for patients with complex neurodegenerative disease.
Do you find yourself arguing that we need more palliative medicine specialists? Then do you find you’re tasked with writing a business case for the same - a business case that gathers e-dust [i.e.it sits in a long-forgotten folder on your computer]?
There are other ways we can work when there is scarcity. Join this workshop. For 2-hours be in a community of colleagues who sense that we are wise to do something different because the need for palliative care exceeds our resources.
This ‘public health palliative care approach’ is not new. You will leave the workshop with language, ideas and skills [that you don’t know you already have] to make a difference in the workplace. Join us!
Respiratory - Breathing Well at Home: More than the Lungs
Different underlying pathologies in different organ systems can result in respiratory symptoms, increasingly in the same person, in the aging population. In line with the conference theme Creative Solutions: Thinking outside the Square, the Respiratory SIG once again collaborates with interdisciplinary and multiprofessional colleagues to explore what it takes to live well, breath well and die well for people living with different, often multiple, chronic diseases at home.
In this 2-hour interactive workshop we will be understanding 1) what spirituality is, reflecting on our own approach to patients and how it can impact on creating a safe space to share their own spiritual needs and concerns; 2) learning how to conduct a spiritual assessment; and 3) considering suffering, healing and the importance of spirituality in a worldview of someone who is dying. Facilitators will be Dr Alan Oloffs, Dr Shamsul Shah and Professor Melanie Lovell who have been involved in developing and facilitating the annual AChPM Spirituality Training for the RACP.
Please note that this workshop will be capped at 30 delegates.
