The Chair in Epidemiology Preventive Medicine and Chair in Internal Medicine and Gerontology of the JU MC Faculty of Medicine are organising an international conference entitled "End-of-life care for older people in long-term care facilities". The conference will be held under the honorary patronage of Prof. Wojciech Nowak, JU Rector, and Prof. Tomasz Grodzicki, JU Vice-Rector for Medical College.

Demographic trends show a rapidly growing number of older citizens in the population. In the near future, every third patient will be aged 65 and more. This involves the need to pay attention to the aspect of quality of care for the older patients, especially in the last stages of life. This applies in particular to people living in long term care institutions (LTCFs) - that is, nursing homes, care and treatment facilities, and nursing and care facilities.

End-of-life is always a major challenge for the staff and managers of these institutions and the families of residents. It requires a special training in terms of konwledge, skills, communication and organisation, especially in situations where palliative care is not always available in institutions.

The conference aims to draw attention to the possibility of improving the quality of care for people dying in LTCFs. Through presentations and workshops, the organisers want to provide health care specialists, social workers and managers with the latest guidelines as well as effective tools related to end-of-life care.