Recommendations from the salzburg global seminar on rethinking care toward the end of life

Abstract

Objective: In December 2016, 66 health leaders from 14 countries convened at the Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) to engage in cross-cultural and collaborative discussions centered on 'Rethinking Care Toward the End of Life'. Conversations focused on global perspectives on death and dying, challenges experienced by researchers, physicians, patients and family caregivers. This paper summarizes key findings and recommendations from SGS. Design: Featured sessions focused on critical issues of end of life care led by key stakeholders, physicians, researchers, and other global leaders in palliative care. Sessions spanned across several critical themes including: patient/family/caregiver engagement, integrating health and community-based social care, eliciting and honoring patient preferences, building an evidence base for palliative care, learning from system failures, and delivering end of life care in low-resource countries. Sessions were followed by intensive collaborative discussions which helped formulate key recommendations for rethinking and ultimately advancing end of life care. Results: Prominent lessons learned from SGS include learning from low-resource countries, development of evidence-based quality measures, implementing changes in training and education, and respecting the personal agency of patients and their families. Conclusion: There is a global need to rethink, and ultimately revolutionize end of life care in all countries. This paper outlines key aspects of end of life care that warrant explicit improvement through specific action from key stakeholders.