HomeEducation/EventsAnnual Conference 2026

Tools for a Changing World

SPPC Annual Conference

John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh

28 October 2026

Changing demographics, financial pressures, widening inequalities and evolving social structures are making for “interesting” times. SPPC’s 2026 conference aimed to bring ideas and approaches to relevant to an increasingly challenging and sometimes tough working environment.

Approved for 5 category 1 (external) CPD credits.

Speaker presentations will be available in due course.

Programme

The full conference programme is available here

Technologies in palliative care for older people

Mark Taubert, Professor at Cardiff University School of Medicine; Hospital Consultant & Clinical Director at Velindre University NHS Trust.

Although there is a continued plethora of new digital health technologies (e.g. wearables, sensors, monitoring. physical aides, communication aides) there is often little focus on how these tools can be used to respond escalating, complex physical and psychosocial needs that accompany worsening health and palliative care?. Using semi-fictionalised case studies Mark explored the opportunities and the challenges of using digital health innovations by and for older people as their palliative care needs increase.

View Mark Taubert’s slides here: Presentation

Learning from a Compassionate Connectors programme: social needs, community assets and economic impact

Samar Aoun AM, Perron Institute Research Chair in Palliative Care, University of Western Australia; Chair, Compassionate Communities Australia

In this session Samar will brought relevant learning from work in Australia where volunteer community members work in collaboration with formal services to address social needs and improve quality of life. It is probably the most robustly evaluated example of a “compassionate community” initiative and has an important story to tell.

View Samar Aoun’s slides here: Presentation

Understanding the economic evidence on palliative care: what do we know, where should we go next?

Peter May, PhD, Academic Health Economist at the Cicely Saunders Institute, King’s College London, UK, and Adjunct Associate Professor in Health Economics at the School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin Ireland.

In a time of financial pressures it is ever more important to be able to understand and demonstrate the economic impact of palliative care. In this session Peter explored challenges of proving impact, surveyed the latest available evidence, and considered what can be done next to strengthen the case.

View Peter May’s slides here: Presentation

A general practice and district nursing perspective on inequalities and palliative care

Carey Lunan, GP, Chair of the Deep End Project in Scotland

Kaye Nicoll, Lead DN, NHS Lothian

Carey began with an overview of health inequalities, current policy, and introducde the Deep End Project. Carey and Kaye then had a conversation, sharing experience and learning from their years of providing palliative care in some of the most socio-economically deprived communities in Scotland.

You can view Carey Lunan’s slides here: Presentation

Similar but different? Exploring the paradigms, practices, and opportunities for palliative care and geriatrics

Erica Borgstrom, Professor of Medical Anthropology at The Open University; David Gray, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, NHS GGC & ACCORD Hospice; Lynsey Fielden Consultant in Ageing and Health & Movement Disorders, NHS Forth Valley

This session will brought together David and Lynsey in a dialogue facilitated by Erica who will brought social science insights and an anthropologist’s curiosity. The literature suggests palliative care and geriatrics are very similar and recommends collaborative, integrated services and interprofessional relationships. But how can we better understand their similarities and potential differences, and what might this mean for practice?

Parallel Sessions

Session A: “You matter because you are you”: a practical approach to enhancing quality of life in advanced dementia

Jenni Burton, University of Glasgow; Lorna Reid, Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice; Lesley Wylie, Care Home Manager

This session began with Jenni exploring what is known about advanced dementia in Scotland. Then the focus was on Namaste Care – an approach which improves quality of life of people with advanced dementia. Lorna explained what Namaste Care involves, its impacts, and how it has been adapted and used in different settings. The session concluded by hearing lessons learned whilst introducing the programme in practice locally. View presentation slides here: Presentation

Session B: When everything matters: rethinking palliative care for people living with multimorbidity

Sarah Bowers, NHS Forth Valley

People living with multiple long-term conditions often have complex healthcare needs in the last year of life, with frequent contact across different parts of the health service. But what does this experience look and feel like for patients and families – and where does palliative care fit?

Drawing on findings from her PhD research, Sarah explored how people with multimorbidity use and experience healthcare in the last year of life. Through interactive discussion, delegates explored what these findings mean for palliative care, asking questions including: Are we recognising people with multimorbidity early enough? What gets in the way of good palliative care? And what could we do differently? This will be a session for sharing experiences, challenging assumptions and thinking together about how palliative care can better respond to the realities of multimorbidity. Presentation slides are available here: Presentation

Session C: Death literacy: what is it and how it can be increased?

Astrid Verhue, End-of-Life Care Research Group and Compassionate Communities Centre of Expertise, Belgium

Rebecca Patterson, Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care

Caroline Gibb, Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care

Death literacy is the knowledge and skills that enable people to understand, access, and make informed choices about end-of-life care and death-related matters. Supporting individuals and communities to increase their death literacy is a key aim of the SPPC, but what does that look like in practice? In this workshop we explored what is meant by ‘death literacy’ and looked at efforts to support more death literacy in Scotland, all with reference to the new Death Literacy Causal Model developed by researchers in Belgium. Presentation slides are available here: Presentation

Session D: Helping palliative care voices be heard in system planning

Diana Hekerem, Associate Director of Transformational Change, Healthcare Improvement Scotland; Clare Hammond, Unit Head, Transformational Change / Systems, Healthcare Improvement Scotland

We know that palliative care makes a difference to people’s lives. We also know that effective palliative care can reduce demand for other services like visits to an emergency department and stays in hospital. But it can be hard to make the case for investing in palliative care in the current climate. This session explored the conversations about palliative care within subnational planning, as well as the plans for prevention mapping, and the current work on creating a return on investment tool which can demonstrate the financial impacts of investment in a range of palliative care interventions. Presentation slides are available here: Presentation

Short Stories: Rapid fire presentations showcasing innovation and good practice from across Scotland and beyond. Selected from posters at the conference