Lien Centre for Palliative Care

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Lien Centre for Palliative Care

The Lien Centre for Palliative Care (LCPC) is a leading palliative care research and education centre

The Lien Centre is established by Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore (“Duke-NUS”) in collaboration with the Lien Foundation with active involvement from National Cancer Centre Singapore and Singapore Health Services. The Lien Centre is a research and education centre of Duke-NUS and under the purview of the Duke-NUS Academic & Research Committee (“ARC”).

14/11/2025

💭Do Caregivers of Asian Patients with Advanced Cancer Help or Hinder Patient Understanding of Illness and Involvement in Decision Making?

📊Using survey data from 229 patients with metastatic cancer and their family caregivers living in Singapore, we investigated the extent to which caregivers' preferred level of patient involvement in decision making and understanding of treatment goals are associated with those of patients.

🔗Read the full paper to find out more− link in the comments!

📖 Journal: Medical Decision Making (MDM)

✍️Authors: Semra Ozdemir, Isha Chaudhry, Chetna Malhotra, Courtney Van Houtven, Eric Andrew Finkelstein

10/11/2025

🎇The Lien Centre for Palliative Care staff retreat was held last Friday— this is how it went!

🍽️Kicking the day off at Naema’s, the LCPC staff enjoyed lively conversations over a delectable spread of Moroccan and Mediterranean cuisine.

🏅Fueled by the hearty lunch, we were off to the pitch for an exciting match of bubble soccer!

🦋 Making time for a year-end staff retreat is a perfect way to slow down and appreciate the accomplishments of the year as we look forward to the things to come.

🙏 A big thank you to Regina and Kat for the thoughtful preparation behind this memorable day.

31/10/2025

⚕️ Did you know that up to 40% of surgeries performed at academic centers are palliative in nature? Yet, most surgeons report limited training in palliative care (PC) — a critical gap in surgical education.

📚 Our latest review examined PC education programs for surgeons across 10 studies involving 577 participants. We found:
- 8 programmes focused on communication skills
- 5 covered PC knowledge
- Training methods ranged from lectures and case discussions to role-play and PC attachments

✅ The results were clear:
- All programmes improved PC knowledge
- 87% enhanced communication skills and attitudes toward PC

🔍 However, PC training remains highly variable.
There is a pressing need for a standardised surgical palliative care curriculum to better prepare surgeons for the realities of modern patient care.

📝 Sabrina Hui Xian Cheok, Benjamin Paik, Hann Natalie Soh, Yang Yann Foo, Alethea C.P. Yee, Sui An Lie, Gerald C.A. Tay, Jin Yao Teo, Yu Guang Tan, Mingzhe Cai, Chin Jin Seo, Johnny Chin-Ann Ong, Claramae S Chia, Jolene Si Min Wong

📖 Journal of Surgical Education

🔗 Read the full article for more — link in the comments!

30/10/2025

⚡We are thrilled to share that enrollment is now open for our Graduate Certificate Programme in Health Economic Evaluation (GCP-HEE)!

🔎This fully online evening programme, led by a team with hundreds of peer-reviewed publications in top journals, is designed to provide you with the essential skills and tools to excel in health economics and outcomes research.

🌐Whether you're looking to enhance your expertise in health econometrics, economic modeling, or health technology assessment, our program offers a comprehensive learning experience that equips you with the knowledge to execute health technology assessments using industry-standard tools including Stata, Microsoft Excel, and TreeAge Pro.

🔔Courses begin: 26 January 2026

📍 Register now to secure your spot at: myapplications.nus.edu.sg

Note: Registration closes on 15 December 2025

📣We would appreciate it if you could help us share this opportunity with your community. You may also visit our website (link in the comments) or contact our dedicated program advisors at HEEcert@duke-nus.edu.sg.

24/10/2025

🤔What measures should be used to assess the quality of end-of-life care?

🔎This umbrella review synthesises evidence on measures for EOL outcomes —quality of life (QOL), care experience, quality of dying (QOD), and suffering. 5 databases were searched for systematic reviews published from 1 January 2009 to 29 July 2025. Included reviews assessed QOL, care experience, QOD and suffering measures for terminally ill adults and caregivers

📝We recommended evidence-based measures and created a checklist to guide selection by domain, disease group, population, and psychometrics. Future research should focus on robust validation and standardized reporting to improve end-of-life care assessment.

✍️Chetna Malhotra, Louisa Camille Poco, Shimoni Shah, Rowan Harwood, Jotheeswaran Thiyagarajan, Moïse Muzigaba

📖 The Lancet

🔗 Read the full article for more— link in the comments!

17/10/2025

🎭 Caregiving for someone with dementia is not just about providing daily support—it often comes with hidden emotional struggles that go unnoticed.

❤️‍🩹 About 1 in 6 dementia caregivers experience high levels of pre-death grief as they witness their loved ones’ decline. Despite its prevalence, this grief is often overlooked, and its impact on later bereavement remains unclear.

📝 Chaudhry, I., Andres, E. B., Poco, L., Balasubramanian, I., & Malhotra, C.

📖 Journal of the American Medical Directors Association

🔗 Read the full article for more— link in the comments!

03/10/2025

🔎What defines a “good death”?

🌐The World Health Organisation (WHO) aims to identify metrics to monitor the quality of dying, complementing those indicators proposed under the United Nations (UN) Decade of Healthy Ageing.

However, the proposed criteria for a good death are contentious.

📋This paper aims to define a concise, meaningful, and pragmatic set of indicators that could be collected and applied universally across countries and over time.

📕The Lancet Healthy Longevity

✍️ Rowan H Harwood, Jotheeswaran Amuthavalli Thiyagarajan, Afsan Bhadelia, Andrea Foebel, Catriona R Mayland, Chetna Malhotra, Deborah Blacker, Elizabeth L Sampson, Eric Finkelstein, Harmehr Sekhon, Jean Woo, Jenny T van der Steen, Julia Verne, Leon Geffen, Lieve Van den Block, Mayaline Youssef, Megan Doherty, Moise Muzigaba, Muthoni Gichu, Sarah Hopkins, Shampa Sinha, Julie Ling, Stefania Ilinca, Ritu Sadana, Matteo Cesari, Yuka Sumi, Alana Officer, Theresa Diaz, Anshu Banerjee

🔗Read the full article for more— link in the comments!

19/09/2025

✌ ️In Part 2 of LCPC Insights for the upcoming 50th LCPC-SHC Postgraduate Course in Palliative Medicine, we hear what the Standardised Patients have to say about how the course has evolved over its multiple runs.

“The number of participants each run has increased since 2021 as the course grew more popular not just amongst the local population but within the region as well.

One common trait that I have observed during the role-play is that all the participants are caring and dedicated healthcare professionals with the heart to care for their patients. As much as they wish to provide the best care, I wish to highlight that they are also human beings with very real emotions. Sometimes, it might be difficult to manage such emotions, and the course helps participants by teaching them how to work through that.”

— Mr Thomas Lim
Standardised Patient for the LCPC-SHC Postgraduate Course in Palliative Medicine

“While actual work in the field is often high-stakes and stressful, this course provides a rare space within which mistakes are acknowledged as part of the learning process. The facilitators are not only patient in their teaching and feedback but also provide opportunities for participants to improve.

During one of the sessions, one of the participants was so deeply immersed in the roleplay, she clasped my hands and grieved with me. As someone who has interacted with healthcare professionals as a patient (outside of my role as a standardised patient), I was deeply struck by her genuine care and concern. Her effort is testament to the heart, not just hard work of our healthcare providers.”

— Ms Gracie Lau
Standardised Patient for the LCPC-SHC Postgraduate Course in Palliative Medicine

⚡These reflections highlight the heart of the course: a safe, supportive environment where healthcare professionals can practise, learn, and grow not just in skill, but in empathy. Through immersive role-play and guided feedback, participants are able to navigate the complexities of serious illness conversations with confidence, compassion, and self-awareness, building on qualities that define exceptional patient care.

✒️Ready to grow your expertise, your empathy, and your impact on patients’ lives?

Registrations for the 50th LCPC-SHC Postgraduate Course in Palliative Medicine are open until 29 September 2025!

e-learning: 28 October to 28 November 2025
Face-to-Face teaching sessions: 12 to 14 November 2025, 8am to 5pm.

📝Visit our website to find out more and register for the 50th LCPC-SHC Postgraduate Course in Palliative Medicine now – link in the comments!

👉 Stay tuned for the final part of LCPC insights — the voices of the faculty who bring this transformative learning to life.

Duke-NUS Medical School Singapore Hospice Council

16/09/2025

👏Registrations open for the 50th LCPC-SHC Postgraduate Course in Palliative Medicine!

e-learning: 28 October to 28 November 2025
Face-to-Face teaching sessions: 12 to 14 November 2025, 8am to 5pm.

🫂What does it really feel like to step into the world of palliative medicine training? For our participants, it’s more than a course — it’s a journey that reshapes the way they care for patients and families.

💭In another series of LCPC insights, we spoke to past participants of the LCPC-SHC Postgraduate Course in Palliative Medicine from the region. Read on to find out more about how the course has shaped their practice in their home country.

“In Curie Oncology Cancer Center in Cebu, we use this training course to uplift our patient’s quality of life, not just the terminally ill ones, but also those who are well and undergoing treatment for cancer in all aspects of their lives, preventing the development of debilitating conditions, further complications and emotional distress from sudden unexpected death of their loved ones.”

— Dr Faith Tangcalagan Yee, Curie Oncology Cancer Center (Cebu)
48th LCPC-SHC Postgraduate Course in Palliative Medicine (March 2025)

“From this point on, I will start using the Serious Illness Conversation Guide in my practice—and I hope to eventually teach others in my country how to adopt it, or even develop a localized version. We were never really taught how to have these conversations, so I often found myself just improvising whenever I cared for a dying patient. Now, I feel more equipped to approach these moments with clarity, compassion, and purpose.”

-Dr Jeremy Medroso, Singapore Cancer Centre (Cebu)
49th LCPC-SHC Postgraduate Course in Palliative Medicine (July 2025)

⚡Their voices affirm the course’s impact: preparing participants not only to manage symptoms, but to walk alongside patients and families with dignity and compassion. Do not miss this opportunity to equip yourself with the skills to bring comfort to patients at every stage of care! Registrations are now open until 29 September 2025, or when maximum capacity has been attained.

📝Visit our website to find out more and register for the 50th LCPC-SHC Postgraduate Course in Palliative Medicine now – link in the comments!

👉 Stay tuned for the next LCPC Insights where we hear from the people who make these learning moments real: our Standardised Patients.

Duke-NUS Medical School Singapore Hospice Council

04/09/2025

🧭 Can patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) truly enhance cancer care?

A recent study at the National Cancer Centre Singapore explored how breast cancer patients experienced routine use of the Distress Thermometer and Problem List (DTPL) as part of supportive care.

💬 Patients found the DTPL meaningful for expressing emotions, but how it was presented made a big difference.
🌐 Hybrid and multilingual formats helped—yet barriers like digital literacy and time constraints remained.
📉 Response fatigue was real, especially when PROMs weren’t followed up with action.

The key takeaway?
Effective PROM integration must strike a balance: keep it simple, accessible, and clinically relevant. When embedded into broader care programs—with timely responses—PROMs can be a powerful tool for patient-centred oncology care.

📖 Eve Seraphina Yi Qing Low, See Mieng Tan, Grace Meijuan Yang, Yu Ke

📝 Palliative Medicine Reports

🔗 Read the full article for more— link in the comments!

28/08/2025

🏥Is there an association between institutional quality of care and expression of "Wish to Die" (WTD) among patients with advanced cancer?

📑Patients with advanced cancer were surveyed from 9 hospitals in 8 low- and middle-income countries. The mixed-effects logistic regression model was used to assess the relationship between patient and provider reported quality of care with WTD.

📕Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

✍️Ishwarya Balasubramanian, Ellie Bostwick Andres, Isha Chaudhry, Rubaiyat Rahman, Nattiya Kapol, Chetna Malhotra

🔗Read the full article for more— link in the comments!

22/08/2025

✨ We’ve just concluded the 49th LCPC-SHC Postgraduate Course in Palliative Medicine — a meaningful 3 days of learning and reflection on delivering compassionate and evidence-based care for patients and families.

🧑‍⚕️The course saw active participation from a group of 38 professionals, both local and from the region, united by their dedication to supporting patients with serious illness or those reaching the end-of-life.

🔑Some key takeaways from participants:

“I am now more conscious of identifying patients who may benefit from palliative care early on - that serious illness not only affects patients but their families as well.”

“I hope to pay more attention to treating the whole person, giving heed to how symptoms can be multifactorial and multi-faceted.”

“I will be more confident in managing the different palliative symptoms and not be afraid to up titrate or even switch opioids.”

♥️Heartfelt thanks to our faculty and the participants for their commitment and dedication to making the July run of the LCPC-SHC Postgraduate Course in Palliative Medicine a resounding success.

📢 Up next: the 50th edition of the course will be happening this November!
If you’re looking to strengthen your expertise in palliative medicine and gain practical skills to provide compassionate care for patients with serious illness, do stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks!

🔗For more information, check out our website - link in the comments!

Singapore Hospice Council Duke-NUS Medical School

Address

8 College Road
Singapore
169857

Website

https://www.duke-nus.edu.sg/lcpc

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