Welcome to Thursdays@3 our regular series of conversations with people living and working at the end of life.  

Today a connection with our friends in South Africa, and a palliative care leader who is having a global impact - Joan Marston. 

Joan is a nurse and midwife who has worked in hospice and palliative care since 1989 at a local, national and international level.  

Since 1998, Joan has specialised in palliative care for children, setting up the Sunflower Children’s Hospice in South Africa.  

Working at the national level, Joan played a key role in developing South Africa’s national children’s palliative care program, during that time, she also co-founded and became the first chair and CEO of the International Children’s Palliative Care Network. 

These days Joan plays a leadership role in the delivery of palliative care in the midst of humanitarian crises and in 2016, she co-founded Palliative Care in Humanitarian Aid Situations and Emergencies. 

Joan remains active in paediatric palliative care education across many countries and earlier this year was on the Gold Coast for the Paediatric Palliative Care Symposium hosted by the Quality of Care Collaborative Australia.  

Click play to join the conversation or listen to the episode on Spotify.

More information and show notes: 

• Paediatric Palliative Care National Action Plan – HERE 
• Sunflower Children’s Hospice – HERE 
• Association of Palliative Care Centres of South Africa – HERE 
• International Children’s Palliative Care Network – HERE 
• Palliative Care in Humanitarian Aid Situations and Emergencies – HERE 
• Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Foundation - HERE 

Thank you for tuning into Thursdays@3 whether that’s via PCA socials or Spotify and engaging in ‘matters of life and death’.