Stresa, a small town on the shores of the Lago Maggiore, about one
hour north of Milan, Italy, was the site of the Third Research Forum of
the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC). From June 3
through 6, 2004, researchers from all across Europe, as well as
investigators from North America, Australia, Japan, and Israel,
gathered to review the state of palliative care research and set an
agenda for the future. The setting was bucolic and tranquil; the
official language was English; the accents were diverse; the
accommodations were grand; the ambiance was intimate and insouciant;
the dinners were elegant; the dress was stylish; the organization was
impeccable; and the scholarship was of the highest level. All this,
perhaps, was to be expected of an EAPC event, hosted by an Executive
Scientific Committee and Research Committee headed by Franco De Conno
of the Instituto di Tumori of Milano, Italy, and his colleagues. What
was unexpected, however, was the prominence of research on
psychosocial, existential, and spiritual aspects of palliative care at
this critically important, international, palliative care research
forum. Clearly, 2004 marks an important milestone for the entry of
research in psychosocial and existential issues into the mainstream of
academic palliative care. Palliative and Supportive Care,
having just successfully completed its inaugural year of publication in
2003, is now extraordinarily and uniquely well placed to be the
preeminent international palliative care journal for research in the
psychosocial, existential, and spiritual aspects of palliative care.
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