The EAPC 2026 World Congress is approaching, and we are pleased to continue highlighting the EU PAL-COPD teams who will be presenting their work in Prague from 14 to 16 May 2026.
The European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) Congress is a leading international event bringing together researchers, clinicians and practitioners to exchange knowledge and advance palliative care across disciplines. The European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) is also a valued partner in the EU PAL-COPD consortium.
On Thursday, 14 May, during poster set 1, Frederick Daenen from Vrije Universiteit Brussel will present the poster: “Navigating ethics review in international palliative care research: Experiences from the EU PAL-COPD project”.
The poster reflects on experiences from the EU PAL-COPD project in managing ethics review processes across multiple countries and research settings. International palliative care research often involves complex ethical, regulatory and administrative requirements, particularly when working with patients living with serious illness and when coordinating study procedures across different healthcare systems.
Drawing on the experience of the EU PAL-COPD consortium, the poster will highlight practical lessons on navigating ethics review in an international research project. These insights are relevant for researchers, clinicians and project teams involved in multi-country palliative care studies and can help support more efficient, transparent and ethically robust research implementation.
EU PAL-COPD partners will also present qualitative findings on one of the most distressing experiences reported by people living with chronic respiratory disease: fear of suffocation. Mannon Wubbels from Radboud UMC will present the poster: “Fear of suffocation in patients with chronic respiratory disease: qualitative results of a flashmob trial”.
The poster will share qualitative results from a study exploring how patients experience and cope with fear of suffocation, as well as how healthcare professionals recognise and respond to this fear in clinical practice. These findings offer valuable insights into the emotional and practical challenges faced by people living with chronic respiratory disease and underline the importance of person-centred communication, symptom management and supportive care.
By focusing on patients’ lived experiences and healthcare professionals’ responses, this work contributes to a deeper understanding of how palliative care approaches can address complex physical and psychological needs in advanced respiratory illness.
Together, these contributions reflect the breadth of EU PAL-COPD’s work at the interface of research implementation, ethics, clinical practice and patient experience. They also underline the importance of international collaboration in strengthening palliative care for people living with advanced COPD and other chronic respiratory diseases.
Participation in EAPC 2026 provides an important opportunity for EU PAL-COPD partners to exchange knowledge with the wider palliative care community, share emerging findings and support the translation of research into more responsive, patient-centred care.
If you are attending EAPC 2026 in Prague, we encourage you to connect with our partners and learn more about EU PAL-COPD’s contributions to the Congress.
If you are attending EAPC 2026, we encourage you to connect with our partners and learn more about these contributions.
