Scientific Programme

Animal Hospice and Palliative Care for the General Practitioner

24 May

08:00 Opening registration
08:45 Welcome and introduction
09:00 Start of the Conference

24 MAY

1st International Conference on Animal Hospice and Palliative Care for the General Practitioner

Room Auditorium

24 May

08:00

Registration

24 May

08:45

Welcome and introduction

24 May

09:00

Patient Care Management from a Hospice and Palliative Care Perspective

Discussions around what hospice care is and why this service is a vital addition to your practice; we’ll also discuss the importance of embracing a “hospice mindset” using case studies to highlight how treating diseases with a hospice approach can result in surprising outcomes for patient, family, and the entire veterinary team.

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Shea Cox

DVM

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Dr. Shea Cox is a global leader and subject matter expert in veterinary hospice and palliative care. With a focus on technology, innovation and education, her efforts are changing the end-of-life landscape in veterinary medicine, and as a Telehealth advocate, she is working to change the laws around how veterinarians can use Telemedicine to care for their patients at end of life.

In addition to launching the first hospice and palliative care service integrated within a specialty hospital setting in 2012, she was the first to launch a nationwide Telehealth platform dedicated to quality of life and end-of-life support in 2017.

In 2020, PetHospice was acquired by BluePearl Specialty + Emergency Pet Hospitals, a Mars Petcare company. Dr. Cox and her team will lead the expansion of hospice, palliative care and end-of-life services nationwide.

Other professional endeavors include:

  • Worked as a Registered Nurse in home health and hospice care for nearly a decade
  • International lecturer
  • Developed a 100-hr program to certify veterinarians and technicians in hospice and palliative care
  • Authored 12 textbook chapters relating to hospice care
  • Served as a hospice consultant (VIN) to over 65,000 veterinarians worldwide
  • Co-authored the American Animal Hospital Association End of Life Guidelines
  • Co-authored the AAHA/AVMA Telehealth Guidelines for Small Animal Practice
  • Past President of the International Association for Animal Hospice and Palliative Care

24 May

09:45

Integration of Hospice and Palliative Care into Practice

Focus will be placed around identifying hospital goals, determining the model of care delivery, fee setting, and the development and execution of a personalized 4-step hospice and palliative care treatment plan, with discussion around its many vital components.

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Shea Cox

DVM

Read more

Dr. Shea Cox is a global leader and subject matter expert in veterinary hospice and palliative care. With a focus on technology, innovation and education, her efforts are changing the end-of-life landscape in veterinary medicine, and as a Telehealth advocate, she is working to change the laws around how veterinarians can use Telemedicine to care for their patients at end of life.

In addition to launching the first hospice and palliative care service integrated within a specialty hospital setting in 2012, she was the first to launch a nationwide Telehealth platform dedicated to quality of life and end-of-life support in 2017.

In 2020, PetHospice was acquired by BluePearl Specialty + Emergency Pet Hospitals, a Mars Petcare company. Dr. Cox and her team will lead the expansion of hospice, palliative care and end-of-life services nationwide.

Other professional endeavors include:

  • Worked as a Registered Nurse in home health and hospice care for nearly a decade
  • International lecturer
  • Developed a 100-hr program to certify veterinarians and technicians in hospice and palliative care
  • Authored 12 textbook chapters relating to hospice care
  • Served as a hospice consultant (VIN) to over 65,000 veterinarians worldwide
  • Co-authored the American Animal Hospital Association End of Life Guidelines
  • Co-authored the AAHA/AVMA Telehealth Guidelines for Small Animal Practice
  • Past President of the International Association for Animal Hospice and Palliative Care
Coffee Break

10:30 Coffee break and Exhibition

24 May

11:00

Nursing Care Considerations for the Hospice Patient

This hour will highlight the ways in which veterinarians and veterinary nurses can (and should!) be integrally involved in patient care, including ways to execute care within the areas of three vital core competencies: 1) Medical: This role requires the vet and the veterinary nurse to be able to assess the level of pain and discomfort, to intervene to keep the patient comfortable, and know when and how to use other healthcare resources; 2) Educator: In this role, the vet and the veterinary nurse deliver information from the medical team to the animal’s caregivers, to ensure the best care for the patient; and 3) Advocate: The vet and the veterinary nurse can be the bridge between patient, family, and the hospice team.

cox__300x300.jpg
Shea Cox

DVM

Read more

Dr. Shea Cox is a global leader and subject matter expert in veterinary hospice and palliative care. With a focus on technology, innovation and education, her efforts are changing the end-of-life landscape in veterinary medicine, and as a Telehealth advocate, she is working to change the laws around how veterinarians can use Telemedicine to care for their patients at end of life.

In addition to launching the first hospice and palliative care service integrated within a specialty hospital setting in 2012, she was the first to launch a nationwide Telehealth platform dedicated to quality of life and end-of-life support in 2017.

In 2020, PetHospice was acquired by BluePearl Specialty + Emergency Pet Hospitals, a Mars Petcare company. Dr. Cox and her team will lead the expansion of hospice, palliative care and end-of-life services nationwide.

Other professional endeavors include:

  • Worked as a Registered Nurse in home health and hospice care for nearly a decade
  • International lecturer
  • Developed a 100-hr program to certify veterinarians and technicians in hospice and palliative care
  • Authored 12 textbook chapters relating to hospice care
  • Served as a hospice consultant (VIN) to over 65,000 veterinarians worldwide
  • Co-authored the American Animal Hospital Association End of Life Guidelines
  • Co-authored the AAHA/AVMA Telehealth Guidelines for Small Animal Practice
  • Past President of the International Association for Animal Hospice and Palliative Care

24 May

11:45

Recognition and diagnosis of pain

This hour will highlight the ways in which vet and vetrinary nurses can (and should!) recognize the presence of pain in dogs and cats. The possible strategies that can be put in place (such as a preventive diagnosis, the identification of psychomotor changes and pain expressions, the use of pain scoring systems, etc.) will be addressed, showing how to integrate all these tools.

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Giorgia della Rocca

DVM

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Giorgia della Rocca is Associate Professor of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Department of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Perugia. Since 2007 she has focused her interest in the field of pain therapy in animals, with particular reference to the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the establishment of pain syndromes and the related therapeutic approaches in both acute and chronic pain.
She is the founding member and the Scientific Director of CeRiDA (Centro di Ricerca sul Dolore Animale – Research Center on Animal Pain), established in 2009 at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (now Department of Veterinary Medicine) of the University of Perugia, Italy. In this position, she is responsible for: 1) promoting and coordinating research activities, mainly aimed at recognition of pain (identification and improvement of diagnostic tools) and treatment of various pain conditions (evaluation of kinetic profiles, efficacy and safety of analgesic drugs) in different animal species of veterinary interest; 2) organizing training events within the Degree Course in Veterinary Medicine (for students) and post-graduate courses (for doctors and veterinary technicians), both concerning various aspects related to animal pain.
She is the founder and coordinator of ALGOVET (Gruppo di Studio di Algologia Veterinaria - Veterinary Algology Study Group), established in 2014 within SCIVAC (Società Culturale Italiana Veterinari Animali da Compagnia) with the aim of organizing and carrying out post-graduate training events for vets on animal pain.
She is a member of the IVAPM (International Academy of Veterinary Pain Management) of which, in the four-year period 2011-2014, she served on the Board of Directors.
Speaker in numerous post-graduate courses, she is author and/or co-author of over 100 scientific publications published in Italian and foreign scientific journals or presented at National and International conferences and of 3 textbooks.

12:30 Discussion

Coffee Break

13:00 Lunch break and Exhibition

24 May

14:00

Multimodal Pain Management Strategies Based on Level of Pain Present

This lecture will set the foundation for pain management in the following lectures and will focus on how the practitioner can systematically layer various treatment modalities to match patient pain levels, providing optimal comfort and care. These pharmacologic protocols can be strategically devised based upon the anticipated and/or perceived level of pain that is expected to be associated with disease. A multimodal pain management approach includes the use of various combinations of anti-inflammatories, opioids, tricyclic antidepressants, anticonvulsants, NMDA receptor antagonists, nutraceuticals and adjunctive physical modalities. The choice of drugs used to treat pain will depend upon the underlying cause, the severity and the duration of time that pain is present.

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Tammy Grubb

BS, DVM, MS, Dipl ACVA, PhD

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Dr. Grubb’s research interests include cardiovascular and respiratory physiology and the effects on anesthetic drugs on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Dr. Grubb is also very active in the relief of animal pain through the development of new analgesic drugs and through the education of colleagues, students and pet owners regarding treatment options for animals.

24 May

14:45

Pain Management and Palliative Strategies for Neuropathic Pain

Neuropathic pain is common in patients with chronic pain. Despite the frequency of this experience, it is often more difficult to recognize in our patients. This lecture will review the pathophysiological effects of neuropathic pain and discuss the therapeutic options that are available to ensure appropriate interventions are being instituted.

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Tammy Grubb

BS, DVM, MS, Dipl ACVA, PhD

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Dr. Grubb’s research interests include cardiovascular and respiratory physiology and the effects on anesthetic drugs on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Dr. Grubb is also very active in the relief of animal pain through the development of new analgesic drugs and through the education of colleagues, students and pet owners regarding treatment options for animals.

Coffee Break

15:30 Coffee break and Exhibition

24 May

16:00

Pain Management and Palliative Strategies for Primary and Metastatic Bone Cancers

This lecture will cover the basics of pain assessment and management in patients with bone cancers (both primary and secondary), including our current understanding of the sources of pain, the rationale for palliative therapies, and the available treatment options, including pharmacological, nonpharmacological, and integrative therapies.

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Tammy Grubb

BS, DVM, MS, Dipl ACVA, PhD

Read more

Dr. Grubb’s research interests include cardiovascular and respiratory physiology and the effects on anesthetic drugs on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Dr. Grubb is also very active in the relief of animal pain through the development of new analgesic drugs and through the education of colleagues, students and pet owners regarding treatment options for animals.

24 May

16:45

Pain Management and Palliative Strategies for Advanced Cancer in the Terminally- ill patient

This lecture will present an overview of the most common tumors in canine and feline patients, including the palliative therapies available and relevant information to help families negotiate this difficult clinical course.

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Laura Marconato

DVM, Dipl ECVIM-CA Oncology

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Prof Marconato obtained her degree in Veterinary Medicine (School of Veterinary Medicine, Milan) in 1999 cum laude, and is a Diplomate of ECVIM-CA (Oncology) since 2008.
In 2000-2003 she trained in medical oncology at the Veterinary Oncology Service and Research Center (West Chester) and at the Veterinary Oncology Services’ Radiation Center, Chalfont, PA, USA.
In 2009-2011 she worked as co-head of medical oncology at the Animal Oncology and Imaging Center, Hünenberg (Switzerland), before returing to Italy as head of medical oncology at the Centro Oncologico Veterinario from 2011 to 2019.
In 2011 she became President of the Italian Veterinary Oncology Society (SIONCOV). Since 2014 she is the Chair of Worgroup 2 (Therapy) of the European Network of Canine Lymphoma.
She is Program Director & Resident Supervisor of Residency Training in Oncology at the University of Bologna since 2018.
She is currently Associate Professor at the Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy, heading the Oncology Service.
Her primary field of research interest is canine lymphoma.

17:30 Adjourn

E.V. Soc. Cons. a r.l.

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