April 2nd is National Carers Day

About National Carers Day

In April 2010, the Parliament of Canada unanimously adopted a motion declaring the first Tuesday in April “The Invisible Work Day.” This day was designated to recognize the importance of the “invisible” unpaid work carried out by parents and caregivers on behalf of their children and aging family members, as well as the volunteer work done in the community.  Recognizing that caregivers come from all walks of life and take on many roles, the first Tuesday in April is a special day where we can recognize all caring Canadians.

#NationalCarersDay

Source: https://www.carerscanada.ca/national-carers-day/

Who Will Care for the Caregivers?

"If it’s a certainty that all of us will experience illness, it’s a near-certainty that most of us will care for someone with an illness. But our current conception of patient and disease seems too narrow. It may help to recognize that while patients’ needs come first, illness is often a family affair.

For many, caring for a loved one provides tremendous purpose and fulfillment. It can deepen relationships and offer the time and space for connection where it otherwise might not exist. It seems that the goal, then, should not be to reduce family caregiving, but to reduce its burdens".

A framework designed to guarantee all Canadians access to high-quality palliative care

This enactment provides for the development and implementation of a framework designed to guarantee all Canadians access to high-quality palliative care. 

1. This Act may be cited as the Framework on Palliative Care in Canada Act.

Development and implementation

2. (1) The Minister of Health must, in consultation with the representatives of the provincial and territorial governments responsible for health, as well as with palliative care providers, develop and implement a framework designed to give Canadians access to palliative care — provided through hospitals, home care, long-term care facilities and residential hospices — that, among other things,

(a) defines what palliative care is;

(b) identifies the palliative care training and education needs of palliative health care providers; 

(c) identifies measures to support palliative caregivers;

(d) collects research and data on palliative care; 

(e) identifies measures to facilitate a consistent access to palliative care across Canada; and

(f) evaluates the advisability of amending the Canada Health Actto include palliative care services provided through home care, long term care facilities and residential hospices.

Source: Parliament of Canada

MyGrief.ca helps you to understand and work through your #Grief. @VirtualHospice

"MyGrief.ca Because losing someone is hard. MyGrief.ca helps you to understand and work through your grief.

• Confidential
• Access in the privacy of your own home
• Developed by families and grief experts
• Stories from people who have "been there"
• A resource for professionals"

Important Conversations with Experts in the Field about #Dying and #Death. #hpm

Important conversation about supporting quality of life and the need for universal access to Palliative Care - the comprehensive care supporting individuals and families facing a life-limiting illness from time of diagnosis to end-of-life and into bereavement.

#Alone on the Range, #Seniors Often Lack #Access to #Health #Care. #QOL

“In most of the United States, families help with driving, shopping and activities of daily living as their relatives age. When adult children leave their rural homes, a key component of elder care goes missing.

‘There’s a question of whether people have to go into nursing homes prematurely’ because they lack family caregivers, Dr. Glasgow said.

In their absence, neighbors and churches can play compensatory roles. Her research in rural areas has shown that older adults actually prefer to accept services from their churches rather than from government programs.

Satellite clinics and telemedicine can help bridge some of the health care gaps. For digitally adept older adults, the Internet already allows easier shopping, entertainment and social interaction.

Dr. Glasgow, among others, has called for better transportation options and for more senior housing, so that rural communities can bring services to clusters of people who need them.”

Why we need better #end-of-life #policies in #seniors’ residences. #LTC

“How we die is regularly in the headlines as we await government legislation to be tabled in response to the 2015 Supreme Court of Canada decision legalizing physician-assisted dying. Palliative care gets less attention, but it is what most of us will want at the end of life: drugs to relieve agitation, pain, agonal breathing and other symptoms. Nurses can provide soothing medications, but only after doctors have issued prescriptions, often with increasing dosages. But as the Crosbie family discovered, doctors are few and far between in long-term care facilities, especially on weekends. Their experience is a cautionary tale.”

Baby Boomers' Last Revolution Will Be Changing the Way We Die. #HPM

"Each person should have the chance to decide when it is time to shift from health care toward a cure to health care for comfort and pain management, as many doctors choose to do for themselves. That means giving us and our families the information and support they need. Death is not quick and simple, like in the movies. Just as they have learned to do with childbirth, health professionals need to learn to talk to patients and their families about what to expect. That knowledge provides reassurance and a sense of control. It is more important than any advanced directive or pain relief".

Inconsistent and inadequate patchwork of palliative care across #Canada needs to be priority. #HPM

"Federal and provincial governments need to guarantee access to palliative care in legislation, the Canadian Cancer Society said Tuesday as it released a report on the state of care across the country.

In its findings, the society said critically ill patients are falling through the cracks of the health care system and improvements are needed to address the patchwork of service that exists.

In the absence of national standards, individual jurisdictions are left to develop their own policies, programs and guidelines that result in inconsistent and inadequate palliative care, the report said".

Toward Evidence-Based End of Life Care. ~NEJM

"The disquieting patterns of end-of-life care in the United States have been well documented. In the last month of life, one in two Medicare beneficiaries visits an emergency department, one in three is admitted to an intensive care unit, and one in five has inpatient surgery. But one of the most sobering facts is that no current policy or practice designed to improve care for millions of dying Americans is backed by a fraction of the evidence that the Food and Drug Administration would require to approve even a relatively innocuous drug".