Dr Joaquim Julià, co-director of the WeCare Chair at UIC Barcelona and Head of the Palliative Care Service at the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), noted that although resources allocated to end-of-life care have increased in recent years, palliative care “remains an unresolved issue”.
The specialist warned that disparities in access to this service “are significant not only between autonomous communities, but also between territories, in terms of criteria, team size and organisation”. He therefore believes that it is necessary to “reduce these gaps through common standards, territorial planning and increased financial resources”.
According to Dr Julià, Spain currently has 0.98 palliative care teams per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to more than two in countries such as Austria, Switzerland and Sweden. In Catalonia, he highlighted the integration of the PADES model with dedicated networks and hospital teams that support continuity of care, as well as the expansion of the paediatric palliative care network (XAPPI).
For the co-director of the WeCare Chair, the lack of trained professionals and the absence of official recognition of the medical speciality “hinder its development”. He therefore advocates “formal and consistent recognition via the MIR system, to structure competencies and ensure quality of care”.
Dr Julià also emphasised the importance of university-led research in advancing the field. “Thanks to the WeCare Chair at UIC Barcelona, we promote projects that lead to improvements in clinical practice and enhance the quality of life for people with advanced illnesses and their families,” the expert said.
Dr Albert Balaguer, paediatrician, lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and coordinator of the WeCare Chair at the University, explains that “every year, thousands of families face the anguish of a serious or terminal diagnosis before or shortly after birth. They experience their grief in solitude, with little support or specialised care.”
Dr Balaguer, listed among the internationally recognised researchers in the latest edition of Stanford University’s Top 2% Scientists ranking, emphasised that “perinatal palliative care remains an unresolved issue, as there is a silent area of pain that continues to be overlooked.” In this regard, Dr Balaguer, together with Dr Ana Martín-Ancel, lecturer in the Department of Medicine at UIC Barcelona and neonatologist at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, and other professionals, are advancing research and education in this field.
Dr Joaquim Julià and Dr Albert Balaguer are part of the research team of the WeCare Chair, created by the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in collaboration with Áltima and the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO). An international benchmark in the application of palliative care to improve the quality of life of those most in need, UIC Barcelona promotes applied research projects in the field of palliative care through the Chair, with an interdisciplinary and multidimensional approach. The aim is to contribute, through research, to alleviating the suffering of patients with advanced illness and to addressing their needs, and those of their families, by offering practical solutions based on scientific evidence.
