Update from the region
In recent weeks the issue of refugee health has been given prominence in the Australian Federal Parliament. Following the heated debate, a bill was passed to establish an expert medical panel to make decisions on the health of refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru, and their need for transfer to Australia for urgent medical treatment not available in the regional processing countries.
This reminded us of a publication in The Guardian by Rachel Coghlan, who is doing a PhD on palliative care in humanitarian situations.
Rachel Coghlan is undertaking her PhD at Deakin University in the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, focusing on the integration of palliative care into health responses in humanitarian disasters and crises. She is also a member of the international group Palliative Care in Humanitarian Aid Situations and Emergencies (PalCHASE).
Some of the questions being considered by Rachel are:
- What level of flexibility and standardisation is required for humanitarian actors to shift the balance of their ethos to include palliative care?
- How is this shaped by the specific cultural context and community values towards illness and dying?
- How much flexibility and standardisation in conflict settings is needed to promote compassionate care of sick or dying people through simple acts?
The link below will take you to her article in The Guardian.