Palliative Care Week

1. Describe a brief overview of the past, present, and future of Palliative Care, with an emphasis on integration, communication, and continuity of care.

2. Discuss the power of collaboration between Palliative Care and Oncology Care, as well as with Geriatric Care and other medical specialties.

3. Illustrate the power of Palliative Care in Bangladesh, with an emphasis on collaborative practice.

Dr. Barron is Professor Emerita at Simmons University, where she served as faculty and Associate Dean for Health Sciences. She practices part-time as a Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist and Faculty Nurse Scientist on the Inpatient Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. Since 2009, she has engaged in international work, consulting on nursing education and practice in Bangladesh. Together with an interdisciplinary team from Simmons, MGH, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Bangladesh, Dr. Barron’s work in Bangladesh has included: educating 75 nurses at Dhaka Medical College Hospital in oncology and bone marrow transplant care; establishing close relationships with Ayat College of Nursing and Kumudini Welfare Trust, offering leadership and faculty development consultations and courses; participating in a 42-session series on COVID-19 and intensive care nursing at the height of the pandemic; and directing six three-day seminars on Serious Illness and Palliative Care to 500 nurses in Bangladesh. A main focus of her teaching at Simmons, across Massachusetts, and in Bangladesh has been on serious illness and palliative care; she is honored to be discussing this important topic today.

Ms. Dahlin is a palliative care specialist with experience in hospice, home health, acute and clinical based palliative care. She is Co-Director of the Palliative APRN Externship at Medical University of South Carolina; Adjunct Associate Professor for the University of Maryland, Baltimore PhD in Palliative Care; Senior Nurse Advisor and Consultant to the Center to Advance Palliative Care; and a Palliative Nurse Practitioner for MGB Salem Hospital. She serves as national ELNEC faculty and is a committee member of the American Hospital Association Circle of Life Award, steering committee member of Massachusetts Comprehensive Cancer Coalition, co-chair of the Network for Patient Centered Care, the Person Driven, Community Centered Care. Ms. Dahlin is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, a Fellow of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, and a 2016 recipient of a Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns Leadership Scholar Award. She was named a 2018 Visionary in Hospice and Palliative Medicine by the Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and the 2020 Distinguished Practice Award from the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association. Ms. Dahlin is co-editor for Advanced Practice Palliative Nursing and the accompanying Pocket Guide, now in their 2nd edition. She edited the Palliative Nursing Scope and Standards, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and authored the 6th edition. She has authored peer reviewed articles, chapters, and curricula as well as presented nationally and internationally.