Innovation in palliative care communication through teaching experience

More than 56.8 million people worldwide require specialized care for an incurable disease each year. In response to this need, palliative care (PC) officially began its journey in 1967, when Cicely Saunders founded the first hospice dedicated to providing comprehensive support (physical, emotional, social and spiritual) to the terminally ill to improve their quality of life. 

However, 55 years later, its concept is still perceived as "death" or "end of life", and this misunderstanding generates feelings of grief, fear and anxiety. An analysis of 600 Spanish newspapers (2009- 2014) concluded that the information offered by the media on PC does not reflect its nature: the narratives used to talk about PC are based on ideological and moral content, more focused on discussion of issues such as euthanasia. This subject of speech makes society misinformed about PCs. Some social programs of study have focused on finding a novel way to address these transmission issues. 

In the last study carried out with university students in Spain, it was highlighted that it is positive to count on the students themselves when designing a strategy to disseminate the CP message. This study already points out that betting on the innovative teaching as a strategy of Public Communication could be an adequate solution to the current communication needs of PCs. 

In this framework, from the line of research on the message of ATLANTES Global Observatory of Palliative Care, a subject with four modules has been designed that seeks to generate knowledge and sensitivity about PC among university students. The goal of this project is to analyze the performance of this subject as a tool of Public Communication that fosters the creation of ambassadors of the PC message capable of changing the framework discussion in society.

Directors of thesis
 

Beatriz Gómez
bgomezb@unav.es