During the 19th World Congress of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) in Helsinki, the association launched the EAPC Atlas of Palliative Care in the European Region 2025. The creation of this Atlas, marks a major milestone in mapping the current state of palliative care throughout Europe. Published by the Global Palliative Care Observatory ATLANTES, University of Navarra and the EAPC, the Atlas offers a detailed and contemporary overview of the development of palliative care in 56 countries. The Atlas captures data on access to essential medicines, education, research, national policies, as well as service distributions from these countries, presenting a valuable evidence base for researchers, clinicians, and policymakers.
EAPC Atlas can also be utilised as both a guide and benchmarking for the EU PAL-COPD project, which is aiming to integrate palliative care and respiratory medicine for patients with advanced COPD. The Atlas will enable the consortium of the project, to recognise the broader context of the palliative care sector, and identify where integration within respiratory care is most advanced or still underdeveloped in the European region.
In addition to that, the Atlas will also support researchers to identify gaps, aligning methodologies, and maximise existing strengths within contributed countries, by providing detailed, comparable indicators and insights. Not only for the researchers, educators, clinicians and healthcare planners can also use information from the Atlas to benchmark their services, design training priorities, and create recommendations to policymakers in how to improve patient-centered care in their countries.
As EU PAL-COPD project continues its work to ensure that people with advanced COPD receive timely, high-quality palliative care, the insights from the EAPC Atlas will help converting data into action, supporting evidence-based strategies that strengthen care systems and improve quality of life for patients and their families. Click the link and get the full access to the Atlas.
This article was prepared by Patricia White (EAPC).
