Grandparents Plus in England and Wales

Grandparents Plus is a national charity which champions the vital role of grandparents and the wider family in children’s lives – especially when they take on the caring role in difficult family circumstances. We do this because we want to make children’s lives better. Our work:

Campaigning for change so that their contribution to children’s wellbeing and care is valued and understood
Providing evidence, policy solutions and training so that they get the services and support they need to help children thrive
Advising and supporting grandparents and wider family members to ensure they have access to a holistic service, offering them professional advice, information and casework support; and by ensuring that they can have a voice and help each other, especially when they are caring for children who are not living with their parents.
Advising, informing and supporting professionals to develop good kinship care practice and advising employers about how they can respond to the needs of their ageing workforces.

More information here.

Palliative care in Chile- an interview with a paediatric oncologist

ehospiice An interview with Natalie Rodriguez, a paediatric oncologist trained in palliative care who works at the Haematology and Oncology Unit of the Hospital de Niños Roberto del Rio in Santiago, Chile. Natalie's job title is Coordinator of Pain Relief and Palliative Care Programme, a position she has held since 2003.

SB: Can you describe your work in children's palliative care?

NR: Since we started developing CPC in 2003, my work is divided among the care of children with oncology diseases receiving chemotherapy and the care for children and their families who require palliative care when cure is no longer possible. I work with a team composed of a nurse, paramedic technician, a pharmaceutical chemist and a psychologist. We have served approximately 110 households. Half of them received the direct attention of our team and the other half, as they return to their own home towns, our group coordinates their care with local health teams, trains caregivers in managing symptoms and medications at home.

Also between 2003 and 2010 I was the coordinator of this programme for the whole country, because in every paediatric cancer centre network of public hospitals in Chile there is a palliative care unit responsible for caring children with advanced cancer disease. This programme has served nearly 500 children since its inception, assisting more than 50% of our patients to die at home.

SB: What led you to choose this field of care?

Read the full interview in ehospice here.

Report: Conception to age 2 – the age of opportunity

This report from the Wave Trust (England) contains recommendations to guide both national and local decision-makers and commissioners in reducing the causes of disadvantage at the earliest and most effective point in life. In addition, it makes specific recommendations for appropriate identification and support for vulnerable families, with particular focus on the antenatal and postnatal periods of care and contains a detailed analysis of the economic benefits of early years' intervention.

Full report here.

The Australia & New Zealand Academy of Eating Disorders

For eating disorder professionals committed to leadership and collaboration in research, prevention, treatment and advocacy. The goals are to:

- integrate expertise;
- facilitate communication; generate, disseminate and encourage evidence-based knowledge and practice;
- recognise excellence;
- promote understanding, and
- advocate on behalf of those living with, and those working in, the eating disorders field.

Information here.