The BCCPC is pleased to announce the release of a key deliverable from their ongoing Quality Outcomes in Palliative Care project. 

“Essential Outcomes of Palliative Care in BC”, a checklist of nine (9) quality outcomes agreed upon by a wide-ranging province-wide advisory panel, including strong representation from people with lived experience. In addition to the nine outcomes, the report includes validated, reliable tools for measuring these consensus-driven outcomes. 

These Essential Outcomes mark an important step toward standardized, reportable palliative care outcomes for people in BC.

Full Report

2-page Summary

Key themes
The nine Essential Outcomes transcend care settings – whether the person is receiving care at home, in hospital, or with a hospice. The outcomes are grouped to address four key themes: 

• What a person experiences
• How a person and family are cared for
• What a person and family know and share
• How a person gets the care they need. 

Collective voices for an identified need
The project was initiated in response to Health Canada’s Framework on Palliative Care in Canada, which identified developing and standardizing person- and family-reported outcomes and experience measures as one of its four priorities for action. In 2024, BCCPC convened an advisory panel to develop recommendations for measuring palliative care outcomes in BC. 

This collaborative panel was drawn from the BC health system, hospice sector, Family Caregivers of BC, other key community organizations, and most importantly people with lived experience, who made up over 40% of the participants and played a critical role in shaping the outcomes.

The work continues
BCCPC’s work in this field will continue – they are now exploring opportunities to move forward with standardized reporting of palliative care outcomes in BC across settings, including Long Term Care homes.