How would you answer these questions?

By Sharon Baxter, Executive Director, Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association

Imagine: one day, without any warning, you find yourself in a hospital with a life- threatening illness. You are unable to speak for yourself and you don’t recognize your family or friends. Your doctors don’t think you’ll leave the hospital alive.

We all hope to die peacefully, surrounded by loved ones and able to communicate to the end – but the simple fact is that most deaths don’t occur this way. Over 70% of Canadians die in a hospital – and one in five of those deaths occur in an Intensive Care Unit, often while hooked up to numerous machines and isolated from family and friends.

In the above scenario, what would you want? Perhaps you would want the health care team to try everything possible to save your life? Perhaps you feel you’d rather just drift away?

How would the people around you know what to do? Have you told them? Written down your wishes? Have you decided who will speak on your behalf?

Imagine: you are at the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, and you know that at some point you will not be able to recognize people or make your own decisions. How will you make your wishes known? Who will communicate for you?

According to a 2004 poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association and GlaxoSmithKline, 80% of Canadians agreed that people should plan for the end of life when they are healthy – and yet 70% of them had not done so themselves.

Health care and life saving technologies continue to improve – and that means that people may live longer, but with complex medical conditions. What are your feelings about medical interventions? What kind of decisions would you want friends or family members to make for you if you cannot speak for yourself?

Imagine: your mother has slipped into a coma – and you and your siblings need to make some decisions about her care.

The responsibility of making medical decisions for another individual can be overwhelming. If you’re a caregiver or a designated decision maker for a family member or friend, you’ll want to know if the person you’re caring for has an advance care plan.

Are you a caregiver or a designated decision maker for someone? Have you talked to them about their wishes for end of life care? Have they made an advance care plan?These are difficult questions. And the answers are different for everyone.

We need to communicate our feelings around end of life care and what we believe gives life meaning – to ourselves, and to those who are important to us. These are personal, individual choices that every Canadian deserves at the end of life. Make sure your voice is heard.

The Nova Scotia Hospice Palliative Care Association is how receiving applications for the Ina Cummings Award.  The award is presented to an individual who demonstrates excellence in hospice palliative care and dedication to the concepts of education, research and leadership.

The award will be presented at the Nova Scotia Hospice Palliative Care conference May 10-12, 2012  at the Atlantica Hotel in Halifax.  The winner will receive a free registration to the conference.

Deadline for receipt of applications is Friday March 9, 2012.

More details regarding the award criteria and the nomination process can be found here (PDF)

Please direct any inquiries to info@nshpca.ca.

The Nova Scotia Hospice Palliative Care Association successfully completed the recruitment process for the Association’s first Executive Director. Ms. Colleen Cash began the position in September.

Colleen completed her Masters of Health Services Administration at Dalhousie University in 1999. She also holds Bachelor degrees’ in Business Administration and Arts. Her professional career has included 10 years of experience in global health and health administration roles in Nova Scotia. Colleen brings a number of skills and talents to the ED role, such as an understanding of the Nova Scotia health system, project management, partnership development skills and a passion for moving palliative care forward in the province.

“This is a landmark moment in the history of the NSHPCA” stated Brenda Payne, President of the NSHPCA Board of Directors. “The association has been working tirelessly for over 25 years to improve end of life care for Nova Scotians. The volunteer Board and members are thrilled to be able to move the work of the association to the next level through the dedicated and professional leadership of our first Executive Director.”

On Jan. 14, 2011, the Nova Scotia Hospice Palliative Care Association  hosted

‘A Dialogue About Quality End-of-Life Care for Nova Scotians’

The Nova Scotia Hospice Palliative Care Association (NSHPCA) approved a 3 year Strategic Plan as presented at the 2010 Annual General Meeting. Within the Plan, the importance of building strong partnerships to improve hospice palliative and end- of- life care in Nova Scotia was identified, as well as a  recognition of the ongoing need to raise awareness about death and dying . The resulting work plan identified an action ‘To research the formation of a provincial Quality End-of-Life Care Coalition’, based on the very successful national model. Subsequently a decision was made to hold a Dialogue inviting provincial organizations who would potentially have an interest in end-of-life care for Nova Scotians.  12 provincial organizations participated in the dialogue on January 14th, 2011. Sharon Baxter, Executive Director of the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association, and Secretariat for the Quality End-of-Life Care Coalition of Canada (QELCCC) was invited to provide the support for the day.

The objectives for the day  were:  to identify the policy/care issues and challenges & begin a dialogue about quality end- of- life care for all Nova Scotians; to hear about the work of the Quality End- of- Life Care Coalition of Canada (QELCCC) and the initial discussions in 3 other provinces; and to consider possible synergies and next steps for Nova Scotians.

Outcome: The organizations present agreed to become a member of a Coalition to be known as the ‘Quality End- of- Life Care Coalition Nova Scotia’ (QELCCNS.) The Nova Scotia Hospice Palliative Care Association will serve as the Secretariat for the QELCCNS. A  Steering Committee will be formed to draft a Terms of Reference and a Workplan;  and the NSHPCA will set up a meeting of all members to plan next steps, following the distribution of the Terms of Reference and Workplan.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(March 23, 2011 – Ottawa, ON) The Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) welcomes several initiatives announced yesterday in the federal budget, and encourages the government to build on them so that the needs of dying Canadians and their families can be better served.

Contained in the budget was a commitment for one-time funding of $3 million to help support the development of new community-integrated palliative care models. Each year, more than 259,000 Canadians die. But only 2 or 3 out of 10 receive hospice palliative, or end-of-life care. Even fewer receive support to help them and their families cope with grief and bereavement. Building hospice palliative care into community health care services is an important step toward ensuring that all Canadians have the same access to quality end-of-life care, no matter where they live.

“Quality palliative care is the right of every Canadian, yet not every Canadian can access these services at a time when they and their families need it most,” said Sharon Baxter, Executive Director of the CHPCA. “This funding will help to ensure that hospice palliative care is available at the community level for those Canadians who are dying, as well as their families. It will also ensure that it is easily accessible as part of the continuum of care.”

Canada’s population is aging and, combined with increasing numbers of chronic diseases, the demands for hospice palliative care will continue to grow. Seniors make up the fastest-growing age group. In 2003, an estimated 4.6 million Canadians were 65 years of age or older, a number that is expected to double in the next 25 years. By 2041, about one in four Canadians is expected to be 65 or over.

The CHPCA estimates that for every dying Canadian, five other people are affected. Many of these people become caregivers. The CHPCA therefore was pleased with the announcement of a Family Caregiver Tax Credit, as well as the removal of the $10,000 limit on the amount of eligible medical expenses that caregivers can claim for a tax credit.

“More and more Canadians are taking on the role of caregiver for a loved one afflicted with a life-limiting illness,” said Wendy Wainwright, President of the CHPCA. “It is crucial that these people receive adequate support, including financial, for the work that they do. Caring for an infirm or dying loved one is already stressful, even without added financial pressures, yet thousands of Canadians every year are expected to cope with these burdens.”

The initiatives for caregivers in this budget are a good beginning – We encourage the Government of Canada to increasingly find ways to support caregivers in the future as their contribution grows.

For more information on The Next Phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan Tax Relief for Caregivers visit The Budget 2011 website at:

http://www.budget.gc.ca/2011/themes/theme3-eng.html 

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For more information or to set up an interview, please contact:

Cheryl Spencer
Administrative Coordinator
Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association
E-mail:  cspencer@bruyere.org
Phone: 613-241-3663 ext. 229