- University of Southern Denmark Denmark
Last Aid courses (LAC) were introduced in 2015 in three countries (Norway, Germany and Denmark) to teach the public about palliative care. The main aims of LAC are to stimulate the public discussion about death, dying and palliative care and to enable people to participate in end-of-life care in the community. At present the International Last Aid working group includes members from 18 countries from Europe, Brazil and Australia. Usually LACs are held in a classroom setting with 6-20 participants and two facilitators. Initially the 2nd International Last aid Conference was planned in October 2020 in Maribor, Slovenia. When the pandemic struck this became impossible. To cope with the demanding challenges and the fact that physical group meetings and conferences became impossible in 2020 Last Aid International had to find ways of continuing the work. A taskforce on Online Last Aid Courses was established in Germany and LACs were held Online via different web based platforms. The 2nd International Last Aid Conference took place online with 174 delegates from 18 countries. The implications and effects of COVID-19 on the development of Last Aid International will be presented and discussed in detail.References: 1. Bollig G, Meyer S, Knopf B, Schmidt S, Bauer EH. First Experiences with Online Last Aid Courses for Public Palliative Care Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Healthcare (Basel). 2021 Feb 5;9(2):172. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9020172. https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/2/172 2. Zelko E, Bollig G. Report from the 2. International LAST AID Conference Online—The social impact of palliative care, October 30 2020, Maribor, Slovenia. AIMS Medical Science 2021, Volume 8, Issue 1: 42-45. doi: 10.3934/medsci.2021005 https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/medsci.2021005