Last week, I had the honour of moderating a deeply meaningful panel at the 2025 Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association Conference titled “Reframing Value: Integrating Lived Experience, Indigenous Epistemologies, and Global Evidence in Palliative Care, End-of-Life, and Grief Research.”

Together with:

• Dr. Afsan Bhadelia (Purdue University),
• Dr. Natalie Greaves (University of the West Indies), 
• Sandra Fox (Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute), and
• Andreas Pilarinos (Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute)

we explored how diverse ways of knowing, particularly lived experience and Indigenous perspectives, can meaningfully inform and enrich palliative care research and practice.

Our collective message: the people and communities we serve must be seen and heard in every aspect of system design and research. Valuing stories, relationships, and community-led truths is essential for building a more compassionate and just palliative care system.

I invite you to read the article published in Pallinews, “Embracing New Ways of Knowing & Understanding Palliative Care,” which captures the essence of our conversation and highlights key takeaways for researchers, providers, and policy advocates alike:

https://iahpc.org/what-we-do/communication/pallinews/2025/november-20/enriching-research-practices/

Let’s continue to champion approaches that reflect the dignity, values, and voices of those at the heart of palliative and end-of-life care.

Thank you,
Pablita

#HospicePalliativeCare #CHPCA #BCHPCA # IAHPC #EquityInCare #IndigenousKnowledge #LivedExperience #HealthResearch