The 19th International Congress on Palliative Care will take place in Montréal, Canada this week.

The Congress will include in-depth workshops and seminars covering all aspects of end-of-life care, from the most current scientific developments in pain and symptom control, to the large existential questions, and hands-on experiential sessions addressing practical issues faced every day. It will be attended by colleagues from 60 countries representing all disciplines involved in the field of palliative care.

Started in 1976, it is the longest-running congress in palliative care.

Plenary sessions will be led by renowned speakers. These include:

• Stress and Coping for Caregivers by Susan Folkman, University of California
• Dignity at End of Life by Harvey Max Chochinov, University of Manitoba
• Clinical Perspectives on Pain by Serge Marchand, Université de Sherbrooke
• Cancer, Suffering and Health Care Services by Serge Daneault, Hôpital Notre-Dame, Montréal
• Can and Should Hospices be Saved by Barbara Monroe, St. Christopher's Hospice, London
• The Challenges of Symptom Control 2012 by Nigel Sykes, St. Christopher's Hospice, London
• Team Resilience in the Face of Death by Danai Papadatou, University of Athens
• On Healing by Balfour Mount, Professor Emeritus, McGill University, Montréal.

Look out for news items during the week as ehospice brings you highlights from the congress.