CODE YAA - Palliative Care Education

🌍 Gender equality is not only about equal representation—it is about creating fair opportunities, inclusive systems, and supportive environments where everyone can thrive. 💙

At the CODE-YAA@PC-EDU Summer School 2026, experts from across the globe shared their perspectives on advancing gender equality in palliative care education and research. Discover their inspiring insights below. 👇

Under the framework of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), the CA22127 (COllaboratively DEveloped culturallY Appropriate and inclusive Assessment tool for Palliative Care EDUcation) project continues to spotlight Gender Equality across palliative care education and research.

Hosted by the Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, the CODE-YAA@PC-EDU Summer School 2026 brought together international researchers, clinicians, and academics. Below are key insights shared by participants on meritocracy, systemic fairness, informal caregiving burdens, and breaking gender barriers in academic careers.

🎥 Participant Insights and Featured Short Videos

1. Promoting Meritocracy and Equal Opportunity

👤 Dr. Manuel Vila Capelas (Portugal – Catholic University of Portugal): Emphasizing the need for equity in academic careers and research, Dr. Capelas highlights that individuals should be recognized and promoted based on merit rather than gender.

👉 Watch Manuel Vila Capelas’ Video - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_1Fz5BT5fcI

👤 Assoc. Prof. Dr. İsmail Toygar (Türkiye – Medical Nursing): Serving as a member of Working Group 3, Dr. Toygar expresses optimism regarding gender equality in science, noting that significant progress has been made and even greater achievements lie ahead through collective effort.

👉 Watch İsmail Toygar’s Video - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Wt3zdbOJQbI

2. Systemic Inclusivity and Gender Balance

👤 Julija Cīrule – Galuza (Latvia – Head of Palliative Care Alliance): Drawing from two decades of experience, Cīrule points out that gender equality encompasses both women’s and men’s rights, stressing the importance of building systems that evaluate professionals without gender bias.

👉 Watch Julija Cīrule’s Video - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bXkLh-ul3Bc

👤 Dr. Simone Veronese (Italy – FARO Foundation / Vice President of EAPC): Co-Chair of Working Group 4, Dr. Veronese explains how gender balance was embedded directly into the design of the summer school—from session planning to speaker selection—to positively influence educational outcomes.

👉 Watch Simone Veronese’s Video - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HjDYNZBKQP0

3. Addressing Societal Roles and Career Obstacles

👤 Dr. Vilma Tripodoro (Argentina – Senior Researcher & Palliative Care Specialist): Focusing on gender disparities among informal family caregivers, Dr. Tripodoro highlights the social mandates of caregiving and the necessity of ongoing research into household care dynamics.

👉 Watch Vilma Tripodoro’s Video - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DGbUg8ARM9g

👤 Dr. Elona Hasalla (Albania – Lecturer, University of Elbasan): Reflecting on the hurdles women encounter in academia, Dr. Hasalla emphasizes how dedication and hard work demonstrate women’s vital contributions to science and society.

👉 Watch Elona Hasalla’s Video - https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9wfinoAkpTc

Join our Youtube channel here 👉️ https://www.youtube.com/-YAAatPC-EDU

🎤✨ We are proud to share our Project Leader prof. Piret P**l's inspiring talk:

🗣️ "We Do Not Just Die Biologically, We Die Culturally."

💬 "Dying should not be a checklist-based event. It should be about having conversations with people."

🌿 In her talk, Piret P**l explains why end-of-life care should not follow a single formal procedure for everyone, but instead honour each person's values, culture, wishes, and the way they and their loved ones want to say goodbye.

❤️ Her talk reminds us that dying is not only a biological process—it is also a deeply human, social, and cultural experience.

🤝 By encouraging open conversations and person-centred care, prof. P**l highlights the importance of dignity, compassion, and meaningful communication at the end of life.

📚 At CODE-YAA@PC-EDU, we are proud to see these important messages reaching wider audiences and contributing to high-quality palliative care education.

👏 Congratulations, Piret, on this inspiring contribution! 🌟

🎥 Watch the TEDx talk here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh98c244rKI .

We Do Not Just Die Biologically, We Die Culturally | Piret P**l | TEDxUniversity of Tartu "Dying should not be a checklist-based event. It should be about ha...

🎓🌍 The CODE-YAA@PC-EDU Summer School 2026 Successfully Completed in Pamplona

✨ The CODE-YAA@PC-EDU Summer School 2026 was successfully completed in Pamplona, bringing together participants, educators, researchers, and facilitators for an intensive programme focused on leadership, ethics, education, communication, and quality improvement in palliative care. Throughout the Summer School, participants engaged in interactive workshops, reflective discussions, case-based activities, and group work designed to strengthen their capacity as future leaders and educators in palliative care.

🚀 The Summer School included a rich series of workshops addressing different dimensions of educational and clinical leadership. Participants explored change leadership, curriculum development, the healing and educational role of art, real-world leadership challenges, professional coping, educational innovation, project management, and improvement-oriented leadership in palliative care.

⚖️📚 The Summer School provided a complementary focus on ethical reasoning, communication, research, and decision-making in palliative care settings. Participants examined curriculum evaluation and evidence-informed education, empirical ethics research and Advance Care Planning, real clinical ethical dilemmas, difficult communication, case-based discussion, and broader ethical, cultural, and educational dimensions of palliative care.

🙏 We sincerely thank all workshop facilitators and co-facilitators for their valuable contributions, guidance, and engagement throughout the Summer School. Their expertise and commitment created a meaningful learning environment in which participants could connect theory with practice, reflect on complex challenges, and develop practical skills for leadership, education, ethics, and research in palliative care.

🏛️🤝 We also extend our special thanks to the University of Navarra’s Institute for Culture and Society for its support, to Vilma Tripodoro for her generous hosting, to Prof. Dr. Carlos Centeno on behalf of the Atlantes Global Observatory, and to Estefanía Berjón Elvira for her essential contribution to the organisation process. Their support made an important contribution to the successful delivery of the CODE-YAA@PC-EDU Summer School 2026 in Pamplona.

💙 Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this inspiring international learning experience possible!

More details - 👉️ https://codeyaa.eu/2026/06/17/the-code-yaapc-edu-summer-school-2026-successfully-completed-in-pamplona/

☀️ Summer School 2026 – Workshop E7-E8

🌐 Hydration in the Dying Phase: Ethical Questions and Clinical Decision Making & 🎓🤝 Ethics in Everyday Education: Navigating Power, Culture and Emotions in Palliative Care Teaching

👨‍⚕️ The workshop “Hydration in the Dying Phase: Ethical Questions and Clinical Decision Making” was facilitated by John Ellershaw. The session addressed one of the important and sensitive areas of palliative care: clinical and ethical decision-making around hydration in the dying phase. Participants were invited to reflect on how such decisions require careful consideration of 👤 patient needs, ⚖️ professional responsibilities, 👨‍👩‍👧 family concerns, 📋 clinical context, and 🌿 respect for dignity at the end of life.

💡📚 The workshop “Ethics in Everyday Education: Navigating Power, Culture and Emotions in Palliative Care Teaching” was facilitated by İrem Özgören Kınlı, with the support of co-facilitator Tania Pastrana. The session focused on the ethical dimensions of palliative care education and highlighted how teaching and learning environments are shaped by ⚖️ power relations, 🌍 cultural differences, and ❤️ emotional experiences. It encouraged participants to think critically about how educators can create 🤗 respectful, inclusive, and reflective spaces for discussing complex issues in palliative care.

✨🗣️ The workshops provided valuable opportunities for reflection, dialogue, and exchange of perspectives on ethical challenges encountered in both clinical practice and education.

⚖️🤝 The workshop “Ethical Challenges in Clinical Practice: A Discussion of Case Report & Communication” was facilitated by Frank Elsner, with the support of co-facilitator Irem Ozgoren Kınlı. The session focused on the ethical and communicative challenges that emerge in clinical practice, particularly in situations where healthcare professionals need to deliver difficult or distressing news. Participants explored communication in healthcare not only as a doctor–patient interaction, but as a broader process involving healthcare providers, affected persons, families, and care teams, with the shared goal of achieving the best possible outcome.

🎥💭 A central part of the workshop addressed breaking bad news, with particular attention to the SPIKES protocol as a structured approach for sensitive communication. Participants watched and discussed different video examples of bad news delivery, reflected on the role of empathy, authenticity, active listening, interpretation of hidden messages, and mirroring, and shared their own perspectives as a group. Through case-based discussion and interactive exercises, the workshop highlighted that ethical clinical communication requires more than transmitting information; it demands emotional sensitivity, respect, clarity, and the ability to respond to each person’s needs, fears, and values.

⚖️🩺 Another highly engaging workshop from our Summer School focused on real-life ethical challenges in palliative care practice.

💬🤝 The workshop “Ethics in Practice: Case-Based Reflection on Real Clinical Challenges” was facilitated by John Ellershaw, with the support of co-facilitator Minna Hökkä. The session focused on dilemmas that emerge in real care practice, inviting participants to reflect on difficult situations experienced by patients, families, caregivers, physicians, and healthcare teams. Key topics included -making and patient , or treatment, palliative , and , conflicts within healthcare teams, inequity in care, and other morally complex situations encountered at the end of life.

🧩🧠 Participants worked in five groups, each analysing case-based ethical challenges and discussing possible responses from clinical, human, and moral perspectives. The workshop encouraged participants not only to identify ethical problems clearly, but also to consider the values, responsibilities, relationships, and contextual factors involved in each case. By sharing their reflections with the whole group, participants developed a deeper understanding of how ethical reasoning in palliative care requires communication, sensitivity, teamwork, and respect for the dignity and preferences of patients and their families.

⚖️🩺 The workshop “Research in Ethics in Palliative Care Settings: Focus on ACP with Frail Patients” was facilitated by Simone Veronese, with the support of co-facilitator Minna Hökkä. This interactive session focused on empirical research in care, particularly on how Advance Care Planning (ACP) can be implemented with frail patients in real-world care settings. Participants were introduced to example research projects and specific tools developed to support ACP, while also reflecting on how these tools could be adapted to different clinical, cultural, and institutional contexts.

🧩💬 Working in small groups, participants engaged with realistic clinical cases and discussed how ACP tools can be applied in ethically complex situations. The session encouraged them to think critically about which indicators should be prioritised when developing or evaluating palliative care programmes, and what kind of evidence would be persuasive for clinicians, institutions, and policymakers. By combining ethical reflection, clinical reasoning, and practical adaptation, the workshop strengthened participants’ ability to use ACP not only as a planning tool, but also as a patient-centred process that respects vulnerability, autonomy, communication, and shared decision-making.

🚀✨ Another highly practical and engaging workshop from our Summer School focused on strengthening leadership through project management in palliative care.

📊🤝🩺 The workshop “Empowering Leaders: Project Management Strategies in Palliative Care” was facilitated by Simone Veronese, with the support of co-facilitator Eduardo Garralda. This interactive session used the project management framework as a practical tool for leadership in palliative care. The Atlantes project was presented as an example, allowing participants to examine different phases of project development, from defining variables and metrics to planning dissemination, budgeting, and identifying the resources needed for successful implementation.

🧩📅💡 Throughout the workshop, participants worked in small groups to design their own project ideas, which will be followed up in the near future. The activities focused on drafting a project plan by defining the project name, objectives, goals, project map, roles, responsibilities, timelines, , and potential risks. The session highlighted that effective project management in care requires not only a clear plan, but also collaboration, realistic resource assessment, risk management, communication, and the ability to translate ideas into sustainable action.

🌿✨ Another deeply reflective workshop from our Summer School focused on professional , awareness, and in care.

🤝🩺 The workshop “Developing Professional Coping in Palliative Care: A Reflective Leadership Workshop” was facilitated by Maria Arantzamendi, with the support of co-facilitator Carlos Centeno. The session focused on the transformative journey of palliative care professionals and explored how coping develops through reflection, emotional awareness, vulnerability, and professional growth. Participants were invited to reflect on different stages of professional coping, from commencing in palliative care and recognising one’s own vulnerability to proactively managing emotions, developing an integrative approach, and grounding oneself in practice.

💭🌱 A central part of the workshop encouraged participants to examine where they currently stand in their own coping journey, what helps them move forward, and what prevents further growth. Through individual reflection and group discussion, the session addressed how professionals can consolidate helpful coping strategies, reduce unhelpful patterns, enhance leadership behaviours, and define concrete actions for supporting both themselves and their teams. The workshop highlighted that palliative care professionals are not immune to suffering, but that learning from suffering can become a source of professional growth, wisdom, resilience, and compassionate leadership.

🎨🩺 The workshop “Arts and Life” was facilitated by Prof. Dr. Carlos Centeno, with the support of co-facilitators Maria Arantzamendi and Vilma Tripodoro. The session explored the meaningful role of art in palliative care, particularly its capacity to give voice to human vulnerability, emotional experience, compassion, and dignity. Participants reflected on how artistic forms such as theatre can make visible the human dimensions of illness, care, suffering, and professional identity that may remain difficult to express through clinical language alone.

🎭💭 A central part of the workshop focused on the impact of theatre in palliative care education. Through the example of a theatrical performance, participants discussed how aesthetic experience can support emotional expression, reflection, and deeper understanding among students, health professionals, and educators. The session highlighted that art is not only a complementary activity but also a powerful educational and transformative tool, helping individuals connect with the origins, values, and humanistic foundations of palliative care.