This is Palliative Care week

News Release
NWO End-of-life Care Network

‘Martha’ got sick caring for her husband before she realized she needed it; ‘Jacqueline’ didn’t know it existed until three months after the long, devastating journey of caring for her husband; and ‘Frank’ doesn’t know what he would have done without it. The ‘it’ is hospice palliative care. Caring for a loved one at the end of their life is one of the most difficult things a family or informal caregiver has to face. It can be made easier, with proper Advance Care Planning, a process by which patients and their health care professional(s) discuss a patient’s wishes about their health care choices at the end-of-life.
National Hospice Palliative Care Week, May 7 to 13, is an opportunity for Canadians from all walks of life, beliefs and values to reflect on the importance of quality of life in the last stages of life. 2007 marks the second year of a three-year campaign to raise awareness of the importance of Advance Care Planning. This year’s theme: “Communicating with Health Care Providers” highlights the pressing need for Canadians and their health care providers to open dialogues with each other to discuss end-of-life care wishes.
“Hospice palliative care must receive the attention it is due on the agenda of all healthcare policy experts and decision makers,” stated Patricia Van Den Elzen, President of the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association. She continued to say, “Whether you are a family or informal caregiver, a volunteer, a program administrator, a researcher or a hospice palliative care professional, we all have a role to play in focusing attention on the need for hospice palliative care. The health care system must be able to provide the support, services and financial resources to allow Canadians to receive the care they need at the end of life.”
Throughout the province of Ontario, regional end-of-life care networks are being established. The Northwestern Ontario End-of-Life Care Network recognizes the value of client centred palliative/end-of-life care services being available in the region and is appreciative of all who have contributed and continue to contribute to the development and implementation of such services. In celebration of National Hospice Palliative Care Week, the network has distributed palliative care books to twenty-five libraries throughout the Northwestern Ontario. We hope that they will be a means of providing information and encouragement to those who are travelling or present through another’s difficult journey at end of life.
Hospice Palliative Care is the final and most precious gift that we can offer our loved ones. All Canadians have the right to die with dignity, free of pain, surrounded by their loved ones, in a setting of their choice. It is crucial that the Canadian healthcare system have the programs and services in place to provide quality end-of-life care. Please contact Sharon Hagerty, Northwestern Ontario End-of- Life Care Network at (807) 274-3468 for further information.