THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a not too distant future, the palliative care providers all over the world could get hooked to what has been christened ‘pallipedia,’ a dictionary with meanings and descriptions of terms related to palliative care.While the initiative is that of the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC), a major contributor to the pallipedia is the Thiruvananthapuram-based palliative care organisation Pallium India."We have been associated with the project for the past three months and have been trying to define terms which actually lack clarity. I think it would be an ever-growing dictionary for almost 60 per cent of the drugs in general use might have to be used in palliative care at some point or the other. So, the drugs themselves would make up a huge number of words,’’ said Pallium India chairman Dr M R Rajagopal, who has been contributing as many as 15 words per week to the project, along with his colleagues Dr Sithara Raman and Aneeja M Joseph.The pallipedia edited by IAHPC chairman Roberto Wenk and IAHPC executive director Liliana DeLima, now has 813 terms and 923 definitions. The list of words that went all the way from the state to Pallipedia on Monday included terms connected with the history of palliative care such as hospitaller, hospice, St Joseph’s hospice and St Christopher’s hospice."The term originated sometime in the 11th century, during the crusades, I think. The institutions that were opened for caring for the injured and those with advanced debilitating diseases were called hospitallers,’’ explained Dr Rajagopal. "The others refer to some of the first institutions for pain management. Last week we contributed words referring to medical ethics and the week before that terms relating to medical, social, psychological and spiritual realms,’’ he added.Apart from all these, the dictionary has terms such as Akathisia which means ‘characterised by subjective feelings of restlessness accompanied by fidgety movements of the leg and the inability to sit or stand still.’Pallipedia’s creation was funded with a seed grant from the US Cancer Pain Relief Committee. Its maintenance is funded by the organisation called Programa Argentino de Medicina Paliativa. "Ultimately the aim of the dictionary is to be of help to anyone, not just a palliative care worker, to understand terms specifically related to palliative care,’’ Dr Rajagopal said.Apart from Pallium India, Fundacion FEMEBA in Argentina is also involved in the development of this free online palliative care dictionary.
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