Why organize a support care conference?

Regular readers of this blog may already know the annual OSF support conference that my team and I have made OSF caregivers and special guests for several years. Those of us who are part of the OSF probably know this event very well, but for those who are not, you may ask what a support care conference and why our team has chosen to develop and hold one every year.

A little story and background

The first OSF support care conference took place in May 2007. We are just starting to develop support care programs here at the OSF, which we had adopted in the fall of 2006.

The intention of the conference was both to provide education to our doctors and employees of caregivers from all over the OSF system on what our support care and palliative care teams did and the current state of support for health care, with a particular emphasis on the care of asles, the elderly and the dying people.

Recognized national speakers have come now and we were so satisfied with the answer that we decided to start the following year. The objective remained to educate all our caregivers on this new field of medicine and health care where very little was available in terms of formal training.

Support treatments are a team effort

Support care, at the base, is really a team effort and, over time, we have recognized that teamwork meant to learn as a team, so we have extended our audience to include anyone interested in support for OSF.

Something happened that we did not expect, but that we were happy: the teams that had interacted only by phone in the past have started to meet and began to share their stories, their challenges, their obstacles and their successes.

The value of a local support care conference

There are numerous national conferences each year related to support and palliative care, in particular the AAHPM annual meeting, the annual CAPC meeting, the annual NHPCO meeting, the Congress of the Coalition of Support Care and others. There is great value to travel to national meetings and networking with others from other health care systems.

If I am able to attend one of these elements, I always come back recharged, inviginal and full of great ideas, new knowledge and new friends. No one can reach each meeting, whether due to time constraints, budgetary constraints or other factors. For these reasons, local and regional meetings have great value. They are cheaper and you can usually come and go during the conference if you need it.

The objectives are similar to those of national conferences – to learn, engage, recharge and network. Those involved in support treatments give people a lot, and work is very emotionally trying. A key principle of support care is personal care, including creating a time to learn.

At OSF, we note that the offer of our annual conference is a way of supporting both people directly involved in regularly support care and those who are simply interested in the subject. Those who attend the conference have always had positive things to say about it, and in at least one case that I know, attendance has indirectly led to a change of career!

Set up and challenges

Organizing a conference like this is a lot of work. We had missteps along the way, but also many successes. Like those who frequent, we learn as you go. For systems and hospitals who wish to organize or develop a conference like this, I would say “go ahead”. You will not regret it and the rewards will be great. In a future article, I will share some tips and tricks to start a support care conference in your establishment or system.

Have you been at a conference for support care, locally or at the national level? Share your experiences and reflections with us in the comments below!

Last update: June 28, 2019