A Framework for Palliative Care

Increase public/referrer knowledge of the roles of different interprofessional team members in palliative care to promote holistic care.

Start educating health care professionals in their degree programs.

Nursing schools, medical schools, pharmacy, PT, OT .... EVERYONE should have some of these basic concepts built into their degree curriculum.

Increase education to all healthcare providers from the interprofessional team to build capacity for quality palliative care

Clarify consent and wishes with each hospitalization

It is shocking to see how many of my colleagues do not understand simple things like "allow natural death" can be seen about the process of dying and have nothing to do with CPR preferences once someone has already died. It is shocking to see how may of my colleagues weren't aware that only a capable patient can express 'wishes' (ie an advance care plan) and that despite wishes, consent needs to be obtained with each medical encounter. In having these conversations with my colleagues, we have designed a form that both educates and helps communicate the issues regarding resuscitation and goals of care and whether or not the conversations are about wishes or informed consent and what must be included to ensure that it is informed consent. We hope to use this tool to push ACP forward in our community and to ensure we are doing our utmost to provide care consistent with patients goals.

shift language from 'withdrawal' to 'protection'

I think in health care we talk to much from the negative (withholding/withdrawing) and not in the frame we really intend: PROTECTING people from interventions that will not help them, and may only hurt them (and their families) at end of life. So instead of saying why you won't "give" CPR or ICU admission, try saying you would recommend PROTECTING from these things...

Define minimum interprofessional staffing requirements for palliative care units (acute and subacute) so that PCUs can provide the right care for the right patients.

It is important to define and fund staffing of PCUs to allow them to provide short-stay symptom management, and potentially longer stay end-of-life care for complex cases. Acute and subacute PCUs can then provide the right care for the right patients. Having the resources to manage patient and family needs with shorter stays would help to increase access. These resources should include, but are not limited to nurses, MDs, PT, OT, SW, spiritual care / counsellor, dietician, and SLP. Once a PCU stay has addressed the acute and/or complex needs, there must be adequate resources in the community to facilitate a safe and quality discharge.

Have Palliative expert teams lead other specialties (Cardiology, Nephrology, Respirology) in capacity building.

Other specialty programs need to build capacity to manage their own patients. They need strong, expert leadership guiding, educating, and supporting a new model of care for an extensive period of time to allow for a culture shift and change that is actually sustainable and the "new normal".

Remove requirement for a time-based prognosis as criteria for service

Often people living with end stage diseases that have an unpredictable disease trajectory (ie, NOT CANCER) are neglected by our programs/services. They don't seem to fit in the check box of "this person has less than 6 months to live" and are denied. We preach a philosophy of introducing the palliative approach at diagnosis but actual forms of support/services are not allowed to be accessed until the last 3-6 months of life.

Increase public/referrer knowledge of interprofessional team member roles in palliative care so that patients can access the right care

We need our government to support a national collaborative aimed at improving the quality and impact of palliative research.

Palliative research in canada is not growing and thriving, and lags far behind other fields. Palliative care research faces significant barriers and we would greatly benefit from some federal support to organize and catalyze this work. The secretariat was good but there are new groups forming and higher quality research is imminent.

Encourage the 'hospice hub' idea - all palliative healthcare providers working under one roof.

Create hospice hubs nationwide

Improve the supply and quality of Personal Support Workers (PSW’s)

Rationalize how we spend our public health dollars

Do we spend too much money on fancy buildings, on research, on administrative staff etc., etc., when compared with what we spend on basic health care including palliative care?

Expand and increase funding to in-home community care

Community Care Needs Better Funding

Start the conversation early!

Be proactive to anticipate concerns and manage symptoms. Start early stages of conversations at the time of diagnosis of chronic or life-limiting illnesses, on admission to LTC...

Palliative Care Canada Wide to be close to family

While my situation is dealing with an elderly mother with dementia in Nova Scotia, it had me discover a serious flaw in the system regarding continuity of care. When someone is terminally ill and moves provinces to be closer to family they lose their access to palliative care (in my mother's case home care) and must re-qualify all over again (3 month wait for provincial health insurance, and then more waiting to arrange services). This is sinful. When someone is dying and both wants and needs to be close to family they should not lose access to services by simply moving provinces. Are we one country or not? The current policy certainly does not reflect Canadian Values nor a proper use of our tax dollars. There should be an interprovincial billing process to ensure continuity of care. This should not be a difficult fix. The same rules should apply for families who are attempting to provide support for the elderly who are still living in their home and are on an excessively long list for a nursing home. Moving my mother to my province of Ontario to live with me from Nova Scotia would have her lose all her current home care including VON visits and any support that was provided to the family. She would also have to re-apply for services once receiving an OHIP card (3 month wait) and re-qualify her eligibility for a nursing home and end up at the back of the line. With the volume of both ill and elderly people in the hospital system, this country needs family supporting their elderly parents and dying loved ones as best as possible. Please do not make this so difficult for us. Rectifying this issue is beneficial for both the health care system and all involved.

Other options to be considered other than palliative

The availability of medically assisted dying to those who have chosen this as an option. Dignity in death should be more readily considered. Some prefer palliative, others the former.

Make available a single point of initial phone contact for patients/family to engage their on-call PC team after hours.

Health status changes after hours are especially stressful for patients and families. Ideally, the care plan and medications will be planned in advance to allow a smooth response. Not all needs and changes can be anticipated in advance, and patients and families need it to be clear who they call to get help quickly. i.e. A consistent phone number to access their PC home care nurse. The nurse could then involve the on-call physician as needed.

Incentivize family and palliative care physicians to maintain 24/7 PC on-call groups.

MD coverage after hours is essential, in addition to other resources, to ensure patients can remain in the preferred place of care as long as possible. Providing 24/7 on-call coverage is a large ask of physicians. There must be adequate support in place to incentivize it and bolster team coverage.

military members and their family members

train service providers in cultural competency for LGBTQ2 individuals

Form strategic alliances with special interest groups that already service these populations

Work directly with these communities/special populations to let them identify their specific needs

There is no better resource than people from special populations communicating their past experiences, identifying things that they appreciated and things that didn't work for them.

Music therapy

A necessary component to transition from life, for bereavement, for memorials, for family support, for staff health

Offering educational courses during basic training at colleges and universities

Canada has just gotten its feet wet when it comes to its framework on palliative care. Once it has developed a CLEAR mandate, all peoples training to be in the health field (from paramedics to pharmacists to psychologists) should be required to take a course on Canada's palliative care model during their formation. Current practitioners who disagree with end of life care should still have to take mandatory paid professional development, yet should be able to refer patients to others if they are uncomfortable with the practice. Those new to the field should not have that right.

Health Care Providers practicing having difficult conversations

I agree with other ideas that would like to see Palliative/End-of-Life care as more standard in education and clinical competencies for HCPs. I would like to see that include a component of practicing having different difficult conversations that could come up while working with people facing the end of their life. Videos showing conversations are great, but I've found that the only way to increase a professionals willingness to have difficult conversations is through situations that help them practice (I'm thinking of ASIST training through LivingWorks and how they include large role playing components for participants to help them have conversations about suicide)

Standardize palliative care competencies

Standard framework to guide education across professions. This could (and should!) be incorporated into the standard training programs for all health professionals, so that all providers have at least a basic entry-to-practice understanding (so that even if they don't feel comfortable providing direct care themselves, they can recognize when and how to refer to a skilled palliative care team).

Ensure that provinces are funding enhanced training in PC for both family physicians and specialists.

Physicians focused in palliative care will set and improve standards in PC, and act as resources to support all HCPs involved with PC. Two-year training for palliative medicine through the Royal College is new, and there is a lack of clarity for how residents will be funded across all provinces. Funding an extra year of training for family physicians remains vital. Funding for this training should be open to those graduating from core residency, and to physicians that wish to return from practice.