Cancer Research in Switzerland - Krebsliga Schweiz

Psychosocial research
Palliative care research in Switzerland
The National Strategy for Palliative Care 2010–2012
[1] declared the promotion of research in the field of
palliative care an urgent task. This prioritization is
correct and important. Each year the European Association
for Palliative Care (EAPC) holds a World Research
Congress, at which important research activities
in all European countries and also other countries
are presented. Switzerland has been a participant at
the congress for many years; however, it is worth
noting that the same group of people present their
work year after year. This indicates that Switzerland
has unfortunately not succeeded in significantly
strengthening and expanding this group of researchers.
In international comparison, it is also noticeable
that most of the research on palliative care in Switzerland
is in the medical area, with clearly fewer
studies being conducted in the areas of care, sociology,
public health, and psychology.
Current topics in palliative care research
in Switzerland
The working group for research of the Schweizerische
Gesellschaft für Palliative Medizin, Pflege und
Begleitung (abbreviated as “palliative ch”) lists the
current research focal points in Switzerland [2]: end
of life issues, including decision-making processes
and patients’ living wills, care of the dying, palliative
aspects, and aspects of assisted suicide. In addition,
there is a lot of research activity in the area of
frequent symptoms, especially fatigue, significant
weight loss, and pain, and there are some projects on
specific topics in the areas of neurology, cardiology,
intensive care, paediatrics, and different types of dementia.
Much less research activity is found in the
Steffen Eychmüller, MD
Medical director and head of the Center for Palliative Care at the Cantonal Hospital of St. Gallen
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