The palliative care congress took place at the SECC in Glasgow on 9th – 11th March 2016. We were delighted that Strathcarron Hospice had a stand at the conference. It gave us the opportunity to meet up with clinicians and academics from all over country and the chance to build links with other hospices. We got the chance to spend time hearing about the latest research and developments in the field of palliative care.
This year, we presented three academic posters. In addition Elaine McManus, Strathcarron’s Practice Educator, was invited to talk about her project in schools to equip staff in providing support for young people who have been bereaved. At Strathcarron hospice we are committed to developing and maintaining strong links with the community. Strathcarron offers free Childhood Bereavement services to all primary and secondary schools in Forth Valley & North Lanarkshire. Our aim is to support the schools to have a prepared response for supporting bereaved children and to help them develop a bereavement policy. To date, we have run courses with a number of schools, but we are extremely keen to reach every school, because we believe it is imperative that communities should be prepared and ready to support those among them who are bereaved. You can find more information about this work here: http://strathcarronhospice.net/schools/