This Taskforce was created in May 2009 with a remit to improve education for psychologists in palliative care in Europe. The Taskforce activities were successfully concluded in September 2011 with the publication of the EAPC Expert Paper “Guidance on Postgraduate Education for Psychologists involved in Palliative Care”.

to download the taskforce publications please click here

Psychologists are an important professional group in palliative care and undertake different types of work, such as direct patient and family consultation, education, management, staff support, and/or research. However, their role, their core competencies and their professional identity in palliative care in many European countries are not very well established, yet. Therefore, the primary aim of this Taskforce was to gather information on the situation of psychologists in palliative care in different European countries. Further aims were the definition of core competences for psychologists working in palliative care in Europe, as well as the development of a framework for core curricula for psychologists working in different areas of palliative care.

Based on the state of affairs highlighted in this paper, an outline for guidance on postgraduate education for psychologists in palliative care was created. Our Taskforce members were invited to give input to this guidance document with their expertise and their professional experience, and all co-authors supported the paper actively with their contribution. Click here to download a free pdf version of the paper.

Since the very beginning of this initiative, there had been an overwhelming response from psychologists from all over Europe who offered their support and made valuable contributions and suggestions for our activities. We would like to express our sincere thanks for this response.

• ANTEA http://www.antea.net/
• International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS) www.ipos-society.org/
• European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations (EFPA) www.efpa.eu/