The 20th World Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care takes place from 14-16 May 2026 in Prague, Czech Republic. Please find below the activities of the End-of-Life Care Research Group at the conference.
Thursday 14 May 2026
Oral presentations
- 11:15 - 12:45 TS: How well do we enable people to live fully until they die?
Venue Hall A
11:55 - 12:15 A Radical Culture Shift: the new (rehabilitative) gold standard for care and support of older people living with frailty by Rose Miranda - 14:15 - 15:45 Education
Venue C2
14:45 - 15:00 Evaluating a Train-the-Trainer program to implement a navigation program for older people with cancer across six European countries, as part of the EU NAVIGATE project: a Kirkpatrick multi-method evaluation by Fien Van Campe - 16:30 - 18:00 EAPC Partnered Research
Venue D4
Panel 3: Issues with implementation
Panellist: Lieve Van den Block - 16:30 - 18:00 TS: Methodological approaches to research into requests for assisted dying: added value & challenges
Venue Hall A
16:50 - 17:10 An ethnographic approach to explore complexities, synergies and challenges between assisted dying and palliative care practice by Marjolein Matthys
Posters
09:00 - 18:00 Printed Poster exhibition I
Venue: Printed Posters Hall
- Development of implementation strategies for the successful integration of an intervention to reduce hospitalisations of nursing home residents: An observational study by Lien Dubois
- Expected barriers, facilitators and strategies for implementation of the Care Programme for the Last Days of Life in Nursing Homes: A Qualitative Study by Inne Snijers
- Navigating implementation complexity of digitally enabled collection of patient-reported outcome measures: reflections from the European MyPath project by Geana Paula Kurita, co-author: Anne-Lore Scherrens
- Clinicians’ Perspectives on Digital Patient-Centred Care Pathways: Insights from MyPath – Romanian experience by Oana Andreea Predoiu, co-author: Kim Beernaert
- A Mixed-Methods Study on the Co-design and Pilot Testing of a Digital Patient-Centered Follow-up Tool (MyPath) in Pancreatic Cancer by Elias David Lundereng, co-author: Kim Beernaert
- Mapping policy approaches for social connection in palliative and bereavement care: a scoping review by Kirsten Lebon, co-authors: Gerlinde Hollevoet, Aline De Vleminck, Joachim Cohen
- Supporting older persons with cancer living at home: do navigators apply the competencies in which they are trained? by Iris Beijer Veenman, co-author: Lieve Van den Block
- Mapping the Global Landscape of Compassionate Communities by Rebecca Newell, co-author: Steven Vanderstichelen
- Navigating ethics review in international palliative care research: Experiences from the EU PAL-COPD project by Frederick Daenen
- Scoping Review on Navigation Interventions for Older Adults with Cancer in Europe by Agata Stodolska, co-author: Lieve Van den Block
09:00 - 18:00 Printed Poster exhibition II
Venue: Printed Posters Hall
- Beyond research ethical committee approval: The complexity of starting clinical trials in the United Kingdom by Didar Karadag, co-authors: Koen Pardon, Luc Deliens
- Experience sampling methods in older people with serious illnesses: a scoping review by Lieve Van den Block
- Recruiting hospitals for an international trial on palliative care integration into respiratory care: a case study from Belgium by Julie Stevens
- The Big Promise of Big Data for Palliative Care Research: Experienced Structural Challenges and Solutions by Degefaye Zelalem Anlay
- Implementation of Patient - Centred Care pathways with a palliative care focus by Katrine Rolid, co-author: Kim Beernaert
- Development and Pilot Testing of a Structured Perinatal Palliative Care Program by Kenneth Chambaere
- Revision of the Dutch Guideline on Meaning and Spirituality in Palliative Care by Marie-José Gijsberts
- Participant recruitment and retention in randomized controlled trials in palliative care: a systematic review by Helena Du Cheyne
Friday 15 May 2026
Oral presentations
- 08:00 - 08:45 Open meeting: EAPC Reference Group on Ageing and Palliative Care
Venue C1
Chair: Lieve Van den Block
Member: Lara Pivodic, Kim de Nooijer, Rose Miranda, Nele Van Den Noortgate - 08:00 - 08:45 Open Meeting: EAPC Reference Group on Public Health and Palliative Care
Venue D8
Chair: Libby Sallnow & Joachim Cohen
Secretary: Steven Vanderstichelen - 11:15 - 12:45 Poster Discussion Session II
Venue: D8
11:29 - 11:36 Physicians’ Opinions on and Practical Experiences with Palliative Sedation Therapy in Children: An International Survey in Five European Countries by Laure Dombrecht - 11:15 - 12:45 EAPC Groups: Global Caregiving in Focus: An Interactive Session to Guide Research, Health Systems, and Policy
Venue D7
Aline De Vleminck will provide an update on emerging interventions and technology innovations supporting family caregiving. A global perspective will provide a ‘state of the science’ and a novel perspective on harnessing technology to support carers. - 14:15 - 15:45 Research methods
Venue D3
Chair: Joachim Cohen - 14:15 - 15:45 Management of physical symptoms of the cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive systems.
Venue C1
14:45 - 15:00: Integration of palliative care for people with advanced COPD: a pilot study by Laure Dombrecht - 14:15 - 15:45 Caring at home: integrating professional and family caregivers
Venue D9
14:45 - 15:00 EAPC White Paper on research priorities for family caregiving in palliative care: A systematic review of reviews by Clare Gardiner, co-author: Aline De Vleminck
15:30 - 15:45 Does improved caregiver coping influence patient healthcare utilization? A secondary analysis from the international DIAdIC randomized controlled trial by Lisa Clara Schiess, co-author: Aline De Vleminck & Joachim Cohen - 16:30 - 18:00 EAPC Partnered Research: 'Ask the experts anything'
Venue D4
Speaker: Joachim Cohen - 16:30 - 18:00 Digital health, innovation, and new technologies
Venue C3
17:15 - 17:30 IT Barriers and Enablers for Implementing Electronic Patient Reported Outcome Measures: A Multi-site Qualitative Study in Nine European Oncology Clinics by Koen Pardon - 16:30 - 18:00 TS: Integrating palliative care into respiratory care: Challenges, innovations, and European collaboration
Venue: Hall A
17:10 - 17:30 Scaling up palliative integration in COPD care: Early insights from the EU PAL-COPD trial by Julie Stevens
Posters
09:00 - 18:00 Printed Poster exhibition III
Venue: Printed Posters Hall
- How do people become death literate? A conceptual causal model based on expert panels and a scoping review by Steven Vanderstichelen
- You’re death literate, so what? Theorized outcomes of death literacy based on expert panels and a scoping review by Steven Vanderstichelen
- Reconciling evidence based medicine and person-centred care in palliative care by Marie-José Gijsberts
- Developing death literacy in community partners through co-creation of a digital tool for proactive end-of-life conversations by Malin Eneslätt, co-author Charlèss Dupont
09:00 - 18:00 Printed Poster exhibition IV
Venue: Printed Posters Hall
- What do palliative rehabilitation teams across Europe look like: who is involved, and who should ideally be? by Luna Gauchez
- The PHYSPECTIVE study: Perspectives on physiotherapy in advanced cancer care from those who give, receive, and refer: a qualitative interview study by Luna Gauchez, co-authors: Kim Beernaert, Anne-Lore Scherrens
- Transferable Learnings for Culturally Adapting Palliative Care Interventions and Associated Materials Pre-Trial: A Comparison of Three European Trials by Serena Salvi, co-authors: Luc Deliens & Koen Pardon
- Decision-Making in Pediatric Palliative Sedation: A Vignette-Based Study Across Five European Countries by Jitka Kosikova, co-authors: Laure Dombrecht, Lenzo Robijn, Kim Beernaert
- Is the Use of Palliative Sedation in Adult and Children Care Different? Physicians’ Opinions and Experiences with Palliative Sedation Therapy by Anna Tučková, co-authors: Kim Beernaert
- Towards Equal Chances of Being Heard: A Scoping Review on Methods for Better Inclusion of People in Socially Vulnerable Positions in End-of-Life Research by Gerlinde Hollevoet
Saturday 16 May 2026
Oral presentations
- 08:00 - 08:45 Open meeting: EAPC Reference Group on Palliative Care for Children and Young People
Venue C1
Member of Reference Group: Laure Dombrecht - 08:00 - 08:45 Open meeting: EAPC Taskforce on Palliative Care for People in Prison
Venue D9
Chair Reference Group: Kenneth Chambaere - 09:00 - 10:30 EAPC Groups: Current scientific advances in pediatric palliative care: challenging care settings, perinatal palliative care and sedation
Venue: D9
Speaker: Laure Dombrecht