BC Centre for Palliative Care

Walking Through Grief Together: Supporting Family Caregivers Through the Transition to Healing
2025-03-26 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Vancouver) | online
Session resources:

session summary notes
Session recording: YouTube
Resource – Family caregivers of BC services

Part of our Grief & Bereavement Literacy ECHO Series
A discussion on the power of community support, self-advocacy, and meaning-making in helping family and friend caregivers transition from caregiving to grieving. Poster you can print and share linked here.
Presenter: Aaron Yukich, Caregiver Rx Social Prescribing Project Lead, Family Caregivers of British Columbia

This series is for anyone interested in increasing their knowledge around grief and bereavement to support them personally or in their professional careers.

Unlocking Dignity: How to Improve the Reintegration Experience of Justice-involved People with Life-limiting Illnesses into Community
2025-03-06 12:00 - 13:00 | online
Session resources

Session summary notes
Presentation recording: YouTube

Reintegrating into the community after incarceration is a complex process that requires a coordinated, inter-agency and interdisciplinary approach. For justice-involved individuals facing serious or life-limiting illnesses, access to patient-centred palliative care is essential—not only for symptom management but also for ensuring dignity, continuity of care, and social support. This session will create a space to share how this is currently being done in our communities, identify existing gaps and challenges, and discuss innovative strategies to enhance access to care. Through shared experiential knowledge and collaboration, we will envision pathways that ensure justice-involved individuals receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
Presenters:

Iridian Grenada, Advisory Consultant, Justice Reintegration
Mar’yana Fisher, RN, PhD(c) Palliative Nurse Clinician

The intended audience for this session is healthcare providers and community organizations.

Understanding Grief in Canada: A Canadian Grief Alliance Perspective
2025-02-27 12:00 - 13:00 | online
Session Resources:

session summary notes
Session recording: YouTube
Canadian Grief Alliance webpage

Part of our Grief & Bereavement Literacy ECHO Series
Please join Paul and Marney for this ECHO session where they will share insights and updates from the Canadian Grief Alliance (CGA). Learn about the CGA national grief survey and professional consultation results and the needs that were identified through these projects. Also, hear about the CGA Grief Chats and the questions and concerns voiced by grieving Canadians. Poster you can print and share linked here.
Presenter: Marney Thompson, Director of Bereavement Services, Victoria Hospice Society
Paul Adams, Co-chair, Canadian Grief Alliance

This series is for anyone interested in increasing their knowledge around grief and bereavement to support them personally or in their professional careers.

Reimagining a Hospice Model of Care
2025-02-12 12:00 - 13:00
Session Resources

YouTube session recording link
Session summary notes

Part of the All Together ECHO Series
This series is a compassionate communities initiative, open to health care providers, volunteers, volunteer lead organizations, community groups, and individuals looking to be inspired by and learn from others developing compassionate communities.
Session description: Shifting landscapes in healthcare necessitate shifts in how we think about service delivery. Following the presentation of experiences of moving from a traditional facility-based hospice model to a community services-based model to meet the needs of the community and increase access to services, participants will have opportunity to engage and reflect with learnings.
Presenters:

Kara Lyons-Dietz, Community Health Services and Hospice Manager, Island Health
Katie Hennessy, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Palliative & End of Life Care, Island Health

The Power of Social Connection: Explore the Evidence-based Impact of Friendly Calls on People, Communities, and the Healthcare System
2025-02-05 12:00 - 13:00 | online
Session Resources

Presentation recording: YouTube
Session presentation summary notes

This session is open to anyone wanting to learn about a nationally accessible social prescription, Red Cross Friendly Calls program
What if we told you, that a meaningful connection was just a phone call away? Join us to learn how the Canadian Red Cross is addressing the devastating impacts of social isolation and loneliness through the Friendly Calls program and how this supports your work within palliative care. A nationally accessible social prescription, Friendly Calls impacts personal wellbeing for patients, caregivers, and volunteers alike; strengthens resilience and capacity within communities; and alleviates pressure on the health care system.
Presenters:

Asha Croggon, Director of Friendly Calls program, Canadian Red Cross
Doris Sun, BCY Friendly Calls Coordinator
Michelle Rajani, BCY Friendly Calls Coordinator

Grief Chats Q&A
2024-01-08 17:30 - 19:30 | online
Join grief specialists Maxxine Rattner (MSW, RSW) and Marney Thompson (MA, RCC) for the first Grief Chats Q&A – a monthly webinar where they will respond to your questions about loss and grief.
Click to Register

Call for Abstracts - Now Open! 35th Palliative Care Education & Research Conference: Compassion & Hope
2024-10-22 08:00 - 17:00 | online
To submit an abstract for consideration please click here
The submission deadline is April 4, 2024. Abstracts on all aspects of palliative & end of life care are welcome.

Ensuring that the needs and wishes of each person with a life-limiting illness and their family are understood.
Learn about palliative care needs and enhance your knowledge of the practical aspects of palliative and end-of-life care. Explore current trends, issues and research with our invited guest experts and your colleagues.
Topic areas include:

Back to Basics: Symptom management, direct clinical care
Emerging Issues & Trends: Innovations and research in palliative and end of life care
Challenging clinical care needs for palliative and end of life patients and their families
Psychosocial/Spiritual & Wellness

More information about the conference and abstract submission requirements can be found on our website
Registration will open in June 2024.

McGill International Palliative Care Congress
2024-10-15 - 2024-10-18 | Palais des Congrès de Montréal, 1001 Pl. Jean-Paul-Riopelle, Montreal, QB, Canada
After a successful return in 2022, the McGill International Palliative Care Congress will be held at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal, from October 15-18, 2024.
This major gathering of healthcare professionals and palliative care specialists from around the world has been hosted in Montréal every second year since 1976. The McGill International Congress offers a unique conference experience: galvanizing plenary speakers; in-depth experiential workshops; seminars covering all aspects of end-of-life care, from the most current scientific developments in pain and symptom control to the large existential questions. All sessions are structured to allow ample time for dialogue, questions and thoughtful interaction. As always, the Congress will offer a welcoming, inclusive environment where the clinical sciences are intertwined with the humanities, the arts, and compassion.
Register and find out more by visiting: www.mipcc.ca/

ACP Facilitator Training
2024-06-11 10:00 - 12:00, 2024-03-12 10:00 - 12:00 | online
This 3-part online training for BC non-profits equips your organization to host ACP sessions to members of the public. Includes 6 hours of training, a robust library of resources & coaching to help you get started.

Project ECHO- Basic Sessions: Delirium
2024-06-20 12:00 - 13:00 | online
“All teach, all learn”
The Northern Health Palliative Care Consultation Team is pleased to offer education using the Project ECHO Model™ via Zoom. ECHO provides an opportunity for clinicians from all areas to connect and participate in case-based education with peers and palliative care experts.
The ECHO Model:

Each session begins with introductions and a 15-20 minute didactic presentation.
The remainder of the session will be spent discussing a case presentation, allowing for participant questions and discussion.
Extra time can be used for any additional questions or discussion with the Palliative Care Consultation Team.
You will need a device that allows Zoom, a microphone, and a camera. You may need to request IT install Zoom on your device.

To register, please email: Palliative.Care.Consult.Team@northernhealth.ca

Project ECHO- Basic Sessions: Palliative Approach for End Stage Heart Failure
2024-05-23 12:00 - 13:00 | online

Project ECHO- Basic Sessions: Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)
2024-04-18 12:00 - 13:00 | online

Dying on the Streets: The Palliative Outreach Program
2024-04-02 13:00 - 14:00 | online
REGISTER
Guest Presenter: Shelley Tysick
Join us for this exciting webinar with Shelley Tysick, as she discusses her experiences as a RN supporting people living and dying on the streets of Victoria, B.C. As all communities are seeing increased numbers of people whose lives are in disarray, it is common to see individuals sleeping and living in makeshift shelters. For those living with life-threatening illness, it is important to be able to provide care that meets the person’s needs, where ever there are living.
Join us for this webinar to enhance and deepen your understanding and capacity for applying the principles of palliative care in the context of structural vulnerabilities (Structural vulnerabilities refers to the lack of housing, health care, food, finances, and so on, that people may experience due to social, medical, cultural or family issues.) We will discuss the challenges and consequences related to the social determinants of health (SDOH) and inequitable access to palliative care. We round up the discussion by sharing strategies related to harm reduction, cultural humility and trauma informed care and how to integrate them into your current palliative practice.
This webinar will build capacity for individuals to understand and practice principles of palliative care in the context of equity:

Attendees will explore social determinants of health (SDOH) that disproportionately impact people living with structural vulnerability. Further understanding of disparities in access to healthcare, and strategies to promote equity in palliative services will be evident.
Attendees will be able to recognize the impact of trauma on patients and will gain practical tools for integrating trauma informed care (TIC) and cultural humility into palliative practice.
Attendees will understand harm reduction principles and will learn how harm reduction practices intersect with palliative care.

Project ECHO- Basic Sessions: Nausea & Vomiting
2024-03-26 12:00 - 13:00 | online

Palliative Care Awareness: Bringing Hospice and Palliative Care to Home and Community
2024-03-18 11:30 - 2024-03-20 12:30 | Online/In-person
Spring Lunch & Learn Webinar Series REGISTER FOR THIS FREE EVENT – IN PERSON SPACE IS LIMITED
Virtual: March 18-20, 2024 from 11:30am – 12:30pm PST
In-person: March 21 from 11:30am – 1:30am PST
Join us for our biannual Lunch and Learn Series, hosted by BCHPCA for both members and the public, covering a wide array of topics. For this Spring season, our series focuses on “Palliative Care Awareness: Bringing Hospice and Palliative Care to Home and Community.”
This series promises to be beneficial not only for the hospice palliative care community but also for individuals from charitable, non-profit, public, and private sector organizations. Whether you’re a staff member, volunteer, or leader, this event will provide valuable insights and resources to support advocacy, partnership building, and government relations tailored to community needs.
We are excited to welcome distinguished speakers who will lead stimulating discussions, provide training, and offer education on how leaders and organizational teams can establish strategic advocacy relationships. Attendees can expect to gain practical knowledge on creating a diverse and inclusive environment to enhance community awareness, through advocacy.

Dehydration in Palliative Care
2024-02-29 12:00 - 13:00 | online
The Northern Health Palliative Care Consultation Team is pleased to offer education using the Project ECHO Model™ via Zoom. ECHO provides an opportunity for clinicians from all areas to connect and participate in case-based education with peers and palliative care experts.
The ECHO Model:
o Each session begins with introductions and a 15-20 minute didactic presentation.
o The remainder of the session will be spent discussing a case presentation, allowing for participant questions and discussion.
o Extra time can be used for any additional questions or discussion with the Palliative Care Consultation Team.
You will need a device that allows Zoom, a microphone, and a camera. You may need to request IT install Zoom on your device.
To register, please email: Palliative.Care.Consult.Team@northernhealth.ca
