Baltic Palliative Care Association (BPCA) is a regional non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and development of palliative care. The main goal is to improve the quality of life of patients with advanced life-threatening conditions and their families through collaboration.

BPCA is the organization that unites medical professionals, other professionals and non-professionals seeking excellence in and advancement of palliative medicine through prevention and relief of patient and family suffering by providing education and clinical practice standards. Also Association advocates holistic palliative care, which includes physical, psychological, social, spiritual and practical support to enhance the quality of life.

BPCA members strive to provide leadership in palliative care in the Baltics.

OUR GOAL

Palliative care is associated with better quality of care. Making palliative care available to the much larger population of the seriously ill is a great challenge. Patients and families coping with serious illness want and need access to the quality of life that palliative care provides. BPCA drives the advancement of breakthrough policies and practices to ensure palliative care education and learning for all.

Our main goal is to empower all people, including health care professionals, patients and relatives to develop the knowledge and skills related to end-of-life literacy after a systematic learning and shared decision-making process.

To ensure a workforce capable of providing appropriate and timely care, a multidisciplinary approach is required. So BPCA initiates education and training collaborations to build the capability and capacity of the health workforce:

• a population health approach involving education and community development;
• a primary health care approach involving non-specialist providers of health care as front-line workers for initial assessment, support and intervention;
• a tertiary approach involving specialist health care providers and inpatient facilities such as hospitals, clinics, or in the case of palliative care, hospices.

In summer 2018 the first Baltic Palliative Care Conference took place in Liepaja, Latvia. The initiative has received support and congratulations from colleagues all across Europe. This year Lithuania is taking over. In 2020 the event will take place in Estonia. We believe in importance and mission of this conference for all those with personal or professional experience in palliative care. Also Baltic palliative care conference is an ambitious and significant step in understanding the changes and needs of today’s European society.

Let’s make palliative care meaningful again together!