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16th World Congress
CHI PARTNERS WITH ACH, ACT, AND CHAS TO HOST THE 16TH WORLD CONGRESS IN EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND!
CHI's 16th WORLD CONGRESS
CHI PARTNERS WITH ACH, ACT, AND CHAS TO HOST THE 16TH WORLD CONGRESS IN EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND!
Twenty-two countries were represented this September in Edinburgh, Scotland as Children's Hospice International® (CHI®) partnered with The Association of Children's Hospices (ACH), Association of Children with Life-threatening Illnesses or Terminal Conditions and their Families (ACT), and Children's Hospice Association of Scotland (CHAS) to hold the 16th World Congress.
The event kicked off on September 26, 2004 at the Carlton Hotel in Edinburgh. Sunday's events included poster sessions and CHI's First Film Festival, which featured videos from IPPC, The Children' s Hospital, and Hospice and Palliative CareCenter. The evening featured a documentary, "Making Every Moment Count," followed by discussion with Dr. Leora Kuttner.
Participants were then welcomed the following morning by the Scottish Minister of Health and Community Care, Malcolm Chisholm. Following a few words of welcome by ACH, ACT, CHAS and CHI, Dr. Joseph O'Neill, Deputy Coordinator and Chief Medical Officer of the Office of Global AIDS, the United States Department of State, delivered the keynote address on the global perspective of children with HIV/AIDS. Both guest speakers were presented with Certificates of Appreciation. The remainder of the morning sessions included moving presentations about children and their families' experiences on living with and dealing with life-threatening conditions. Following the morning break and lunch, delegates broke out into concurrent sessions where a variety of topics were being covered, from the delivery of difficult news to sessions on how to cope to different types of therapy treatment. Delegates reconvened for the afternoon as Ann Goldman moderated the sessions discussing pediatric and palliative care medicine.
The third day of the Congress featured presentations from numerous outstanding international speakers. Concurrent sessions, once again, broke out after morning break and lunch. Tuesday's concurrent sessions dealt with a variety of topics, from bereavement to management of particular diseases and included the development of a CHI PACC® program. Delegates then reconvened for presentations dealing with education and training; asking the question "are we getting it right?" The education sessions concluded that afternoon with a heartwarming presentation by Jim Hawkins, accompanied by Hugworks, on child poet and peacemaker, Mattie Stepanek, entitled, "A Tribute to Mattie: Champion and Hero." Ann Armstrong-Dailey, CHI's Founding Director and CEO, drew things to a close as she thanked the participants for their contribution. Shortly after, delegates headed to the Edinburgh Castle where the farewell reception was hosted by the Scottish Parliament. The Right Honorable, Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister, welcomed everyone to the Great Hall, "the castle's main banqueting chamber in the 16th century." A short awards presentation was held in which Ann Armstrong-Dailey presented the Minister with his Certificate of Appreciation. He, then, assisted Ms. Armstrong-Dailey in the presentation of CHI awards to this year's recipients. As delegates left, they were treated to one last surprise--the Scottish Parliament had opened up the room with the crown jewels for viewing.
The final morning participants had the pleasure of a site visit to Rachel House, a facility that "provides specialist respite, terminal care and bereavement support, for families with a child/young person who is not expected to live into adulthood."
So, with the 16th World Congress behind, CHI looks forward to the 17th World Congress!
CHI would like to thank Dr. Joseph O'Neill, The Right Honorable Jim Wallace, Minister Malcolm Chisholm, ACH, ACT, CHAS, the review committee, faculty, participants, CHI staff, coordinators Jennifer Fenley and Linda Sokhor, and volunteers. The CHI World Congress is made possible largely due to the efforts of these individuals and their willingness to share their wealth of knowledge. We hope that all who attended the Congress will return to their work with a renewed sense of joy and dedication, striving for our ultimate goal-improving the quality of life for children with life-threatening conditions and the families who care for them!
If you missed the 16th World Congress and would like to obtain a CD of the session presentations, they will be available for purchase soon. Photographs of the 16th World Congress will be available to view on our website, www.chionline.org, soon.
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