Hospice New Zealand
Palliative Care Conference
2024 - Takina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wellington
2022 - Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, Christchurch
2018 - Cordis, Auckland
2016 - The Langham, Auckland
2014 - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa, Wellington
2012 - The Langham, Auckland
The 2022 Hospice NZ Palliative Care Conference welcomed 300 delegates from across New Zealand to Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, Christchurch, from 7-9 Nov 2022.
It was the first time the event had been held in the South Island for more than a decade, with delegates happy to be back and impressed by the new facilities at Te Pae Christchurch. It was also the first time the group had met in person since 2018, with the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the palliative care sector informing the content and conference activities during the three-day programme.
Kicking off with a mihi whakatau (traditional Māori welcome ceremony), the conference opened with a virtual welcome from New Zealand’s Health Minister at the time, Hon Andrew Little. The programme then launched into (virtual) keynotes from palliative care specialists in Belgium and the UK, before a schedule of concurrent sessions focusing on innovative clinical developments, best practice, education and research, including a session on Equity and Māori cultural responsiveness within Hospices by Dr Rawiri McKree Jansen.
The opening day concluded with a Remembrance Service, Kia Maumahara - Remembering together, at the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral to honour the people that had died since the last conference in the hospice service. This year, the remembrance service departed from the norm and was also open to the public, for those people who weren’t able to say goodbye to their loved ones in the hospice service due to COVID-19. The poignant event was well-supported and welcomed for its inclusiveness by the local community.
Alongside concurrent sessions, the second day incorporated a photographic exhibition and speech from Dr Tess Moeke-Maxwell, Rapua te Mārama – Whānau reflections of life and death during COVID-19. The thought-provoking exhibition and study shared intimate whānau stories about end of life and loss during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The afternoon session saw Bridget Williams of Bead and Proceed encouraging hospice providers to think about their UN Sustainable Development Goals journey and how to weave them into their work at hospice with BEAD the change you want to see in the world.
The second day culminated in the conference Gala Dinner, a colourful evening including a spectacular Elvis performance from Epic Entertainers and a packed dance floor. Themed ‘Second Time Around’, it encouraged attendees to wear an outfit sourced from a Hospice Shop to support the kaupapa of the business, as well as reducing waste by not requiring a new outfit to be purchased.
This sustainable ethos and focus on giving back was also incorporated into the event centrepieces, made by Kim Chan Events. Half of the centrepieces were plants, which were then gifted to Christchurch’s Tūī Corridor environmental legacy project, which aims to establish a corridor of tūī friendly vegetation between the Port Hills and the central city. The other half were flowers, which were delivered to local hospice and aged care facilities the following day. The outcome: a feel good option that created no waste, didn’t cost more and left a positive legacy for the host community.
The third day saw a focus on palliative care in children, and the issue of assisted dying and how this new legal right In New Zealand flows on to the work of hospice.
Given the challenging content, wellbeing was prioritised in the conference organisation. Before each plenary session SoulWorks would run short breathing and movement sessions to ensure everyone was in the zone for what was a thoughtful conference of connection, care, and forward thinking.
In 2018, it was delightful to be back at the beautiful Cordis Auckland (rebranded from Langham Auckland), for the 23rd Hospice New Zealand Palliative Care Conference. The Hospice New Zealand conference is special to us, as they are always such warm and generous delegates and as such it’s really important that the conference reflects this too.
The three-day conference had a mixture of sessions, from plenary sessions concurrent sessions, workshops, informal exchanges, pechakucha and brilliant ideas.
On the first afternoon, we created a different plenary session, where four panelists were followed up by a live cooking demonstration, with accompanying surprise tastings for the delegates. As well as a branded tea towel for all delegates. This set the tone and excitement of the conference for the coming days.
“A huge thanks must be extended to Arna and Nerida and the team from Composition. This is the 8th year that Hospice New Zealand and Composition have been working together and it’s fair to say we couldn’t and wouldn’t do this without you. Your skills are exceptional and I am sure we all agree the behind the scenes organisation has been seamless. Thank you.” – Mary Schumacher, CEO, Hospice New Zealand
In 2016 the theme for this conference was ‘What matters most?’. When time is short, we want to do what matters most. The conference theme challenged each delegate to consider what matters from a range of perspectives. What matters most to patients, to their families, to the carers and to our communities when it comes to end of life care? What matters to us most personally?
How we translated this theme into the conference was have each hospices ask staff, patients, those in the communities to write what matters most to them, and photographed them, which was showcased on the screens to music at the beginning of every plenary session. It was a way of centering the room, prior to the session starting and kept the theme in the for-front of everyone’s mind.
With five international keynote speakers, the programme is always going to be heavy hitting, but we ensured the speakers were well brief on the theme and the layer behind it, in the lead-up.
Along with some amazing entertainment elements in the conference, the conference dinner provided a night of great fun, with The Great Gatsby theme.
In 2014 it was a special milestone: Hospice New Zealand 21st conference. Held over three days at Te Papa in Wellington, the venue was an extraordinary backdrop; and we were excited by the challenge of managing the event within a working museum.
In the spirit of tradition, we thought it perfectly fitting to celebrate the conference turning 21 with a “Happy 21st” dinner on the first night. The dress code for delegates: come dressed as they would have done when they were 21. The night generated a lot of laughter and was a wonderful way for everyone to relax and connect.
The theme for this year’s conference was Reaching Out, Community Engagement. This engagement extended beyond the discussion topics to the other delegate experiences: the pōwhiri, Remembrance Service, conference app and the inclusion of the interactive art form Tape Art; whose temporary murals sparked many a conversation. View the Tape Art created at the conference here.
For the Hospice New Zealand Palliative Care Conference, we wanted to create an event that reflected different aspects of hospice life – the caring and inclusive atmosphere, touching moments and flashes of laughter.
This three-day conference, held at The Langham in Auckland was formally opened by the Minister of Health. It featured keynote speakers from New Zealand and overseas as well as a panel discussion led by TV journalist Mike McRoberts.
Central to the conference was the Remembrance Service. A moving experience that gave delegates the opportunity to reflect and remember those who have departed.
In contrast, the Express Yourself conference dinner was the ideal way to relax, socialise and bring out some smiles, courtesy of two outrageous drag queens – Buffy and Bimbo. Something unique and unexpected - the perfect way to wrap up the final night.