News

Douglas College, in collaboration with the BC Hospice and Palliative Care Association, is preparing to launch an innovative education initiative aimed at supporting healthcare professionals who care for patients approaching the end-of-life. This program will emphasize the development of practical skills and emotional resilience through End-of-Life Doula training. Our goal is to equip workers in long-term care and other settings to provide compassionate, culturally responsive, and comprehensive support.

As we shape this initiative, we are actively seeking input from healthcare professionals throughout BC. Your firsthand experiences are crucial in ensuring that the training addresses the realities of your daily work such as navigating grief, managing stress, and addressing the emotional complexities inherent in end-of-life care in ways that are both meaningful and relevant. This initiative will complement Douglas College’s existing suite of End-of-Life Studies programming.

We invite you to contribute to this vital endeavor. Your insights will directly influence the delivery of training and the prioritization of support. Together, we can develop resources that enhance the quality of patient care and promote the wellbeing of healthcare providers.

Please reach out to Jennifer Mallmes (mallmesj@douglascollege.ca) to join the conversation and help shape the future of end-of-life care education.

We’re excited to share that today marks the official launch of AboutGrief.ca | LeDeuil.ca — Canada’s new national grief portal. Led by the Canadian Grief Alliance (founded and administered by Canadian Virtual Hospice), this bilingual platform is accompanied by the release of The Next Steps Action Plan: A Strategic Approach to Grief Literacy and Grief Support in Canada, developed with support from Health Canada.

AboutGrief.ca | LeDeuil.ca: A Central Resource for Grief in Canada

This mirrored bilingual website supports Canadians experiencing all forms of loss — both death and non-death related. Key features include:

• 33 original articles developed with grief experts and individuals with lived experience
• Curated databases of over:
• • 400 resources across multiple formats
  • 400 grief programs and services across local, regional, and national levels
  • 100+ innovations and research initiatives
• Grief Assistant: A safe and structured AI chatbot that guides users to tailored resources
• Video gallery with over 1,000 searchable clips of lived experiences and expert guidance
• Windmail: A secure feature allowing users to send private messages to those they miss

The Next Steps Action Plan (NSAP)

In response to Health Canada’s request for a national grief strategy, the NSAP offers five key recommendations for improving grief literacy and support across Canada.

Why it matters:

• Canada currently lacks a cohesive grief support system
• Post-COVID, grief is more widespread and complex
• Many Canadians cannot access the help they need, leading to downstream impacts on mental health and community well-being

The NSAP is built on:

• Insights from 300+ informants, 44 organizations, and 55 focus groups
• Over 4,000 survey responses — 500+ of whom formed the “Great Big Grief Focus Group”
• 4,500+ hours of volunteer support
• Guidance from a National Consultation Committee of 33 members

This is a much-needed and highly anticipated resource for grief practitioners, community members, and policy makers alike.

How You Can Engage

• Visit AboutGrief.ca | LeDeuil.ca and explore the tools and resources
• Read the NSAP (available in English and French)
• Share the site with your staff, clients, residents, and networks
• Amplify the launch on your social media platforms
• Request content for newsletters or communications — we’re happy to support

We are grateful to Health Canada and the many individuals and communities who made this possible. This is a big step forward in supporting grief across Canada.

Sector Report Highlight: Aging in Place in Canada

Published by Canada’s Drug Agency (CDA-AMC) 

This national evidence review explores the barriers and enablers to aging in place across Canada. While the report doesn’t specifically mention hospice or palliative care, its themes strongly reinforce the importance of community-based, integrated, and person-centred supports, the very principles at the heart of hospice society work. Key findings include: Limited access to home-based health services, especially in rural and remote communities Increased social isolation among older adults The need for caregiver support and coordinated care systems The role of local, culturally appropriate services in enabling people to age safely and meaningfully at home Why this matters for us: Hospice societies are already filling many of these gaps, supporting isolated seniors, providing non-clinical grief care, and easing the strain on families. This report offers a valuable policy lens to position hospice work as essential to the aging-in-place strategy. READ FULL REPORT

The NVAS is a co-created strategy, and we need your input to ensure it reflects the voices and experiences of everyone invested in the future of volunteering in Canada. We want to be able to share the data and analysis with our partners and members based on their geographic location and subsectors - and so, getting a sample that is representative of the population is deeply important. By participating in the survey, you will help us:

• Create a representative data sample that tells the story of volunteering and community participation across the country.
  
• Strengthen our advocacy and policy propositions with robust data collection.
  
• Share valuable data with our partners to support their work and projects.
  
• Gather insights that address the concerns of your subsector, city, province, or territory.
  
• Build a national volunteer action strategy backed by data and the voices of the country

To learn more about the NVAS and  participate in the survey, check out volunteerstrategy.ca/get-involved. There are surveys for Individuals, as well as for Organizations and Non-Profits. 

British Columbians and Yukoners are invited to take part in this year’s Hike for Hospice, a national event that supports compassionate end-of-life care in local communities.

Thousands walk each year to honour loved ones, raise vital funds, and ensure hospice palliative care is available close to home.

“It’s a day where families gather to remember, and where we all feel the power of community walking together for a cause that touches every one of us.”
-Northern Region Hospice Society Volunteer

Read the full release and find out how to get involved: www.bchpca.org/hike-for-hospice-palliative-care

To learn more or find a hike near you, visit:
www.bchpca.org/hike-for-hospice-palliative-care
www.chpca.ca/awareness/hike-for-hospice-palliative-care

#HikeForHospice #BCHPCA #HospicePalliativeCare #CommunityCare #EndOfLifeCare #HospiceSupport

Hospice societies across British Columbia and the Yukon provide invaluable support to individuals and families facing end-of-life care, grief, and bereavement. To strengthen recognition and ensure sustainable funding for these essential services, the Information and Technology Task Group has been working since June 2023 to create a standardized framework for data collection and reporting across all hospice societies. A province-wide data initiative.

This initiative aims to develop a will harmonized data reporting practices, empowering hospice societies to present a unified and compelling case for advocacy and funding.By aligning how we gather and share our stories through data, we can build a stronger, collective case for the critical role hospice societies play in caring for our communities.

We're currently in the environmental scan phase, conducting targeted surveys across key service areas: grief and bereavement support, palliative care, community education and outreach, and indirect support. We've already completed surveys for grief and bereavement support, as well as community education and outreach, and are analyzing the data. We will post preliminary snapshots on our Standardizing Hospice Data Practices webpage.

In the coming weeks, we plan to release the indirect support survey, followed by the palliative care survey at the end of May. Throughout the summer, we will analyze the collected data to gain a comprehensive understanding of the invaluable contributions of hospice societies across British Columbia and the Yukon. We are eager to see this data come to life and use it to create a standardized framework for data collection and reporting. This will enable us to effectively advocate for our hospice society members, highlighting the critical role they play in our communities.

We are incredibly grateful for all the support we have received throughout this project from our task group members, pilot group and all those who have completed our surveys. Please watch for more information about our upcoming surveys! Your input is crucial to this important project!

Adam Webber
Membership and Education Coordinator

We would like to inform you of a study investigating how volunteers experience interactions with palliative and grief clients. This study involves answering a brief mobile survey after your next several interactions with your client, intended to help the researchers understand how volunteers listen to and support clients, and how those interactions impact the volunteers themselves. We hope you will consider participating.

The principal investigator of the research study, Tiffany Kriz, Ph.D., an Associate Professor in Management and Organizations at MacEwan University in Edmonton. Dr. Kriz is collaborating with the Palliative Care Society of the Bow Valley (Banff/Canmore) to conduct this study of palliative, hospice, and grief care volunteers in Western Canada, and they have asked us to reach out to our eligible volunteers for inclusion into the study. You are being invited to participate in this study because you are currently deployed as a volunteer to support a client in Western Canada navigating difficult life changes.

If you participate, you will be asked to provide your email address, provide some basic demographic information, and answer some questions about your personality through the link below, then you will be asked complete a short (~3 minutes) survey after at least five client interactions.

If you are interested in participating in the study, please visit this link: https://macewan.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_067Mrvv3ibmoKCW

If you have questions about the study or your participation, contact Dr. Tiffany Kriz at Tiffany.Kriz@macewan.ca.

Participation in the study is voluntary. If you choose not to participate, you can simply disregard this communication, and your volunteer position will not be affected in any way.

Pallium Canada has officially launched the British Columbia Edition of the Canadian Atlas of Palliative Care. This groundbreaking resource provides a comprehensive, data-driven snapshot of the status of palliative care across several domains in the province and its regions.

Learn More

On April 3rd, 2025, BCHPCA proudly participated in the "Dying, Death, Burial & Bereavement Resource Fair", hosted by Jewish Family Services (JFS). This meaningful community event brought together organizations across sectors committed to supporting individuals through life’s most profound transitions. We were honoured to represent the hospice and palliative care community in British Columbia and engage with attendees about the essential work our members do in providing end-of-life care, grief support, and advocacy.

Through our booth, we connected with seniors, caregivers, and service providers, highlighting the vital role hospices play not only in providing comfort and dignity at the end of life but also in supporting families and communities before, during, and after a loss. One of our core priorities at BCHPCA is promoting grief and bereavement as a public health issue – one that deserves sustained investment and recognition within the broader healthcare system.

We were pleased to be joined at the event by our member, the Vancouver Hospice Society, who showcased their innovative bereavement programs, such as the Bereavement Walking Program and the Parent’s Grief Support Group. Their approach exemplifies how accessible, community-based grief support can create healing spaces and support those with their grief journey.

At BCHPCA, we are working on multiple strategies to strengthen grief and bereavement care across the province. This includes building awareness through events like the past Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health Summit 2024, engaging health and community leaders, and advocating for policy changes that recognize bereavement as a critical component of health and wellness.

Thank you to JFS for hosting such a thoughtful and welcoming event, and to everyone who stopped by our booth to learn more about hospice and palliative care in BC. Together, we continue to advocate for a future where grief and loss are met with understanding, resources, and community.

Daniel Ordonez Mantilla 
Data and Research Coordinator

We’re honoured to share that the BC Hospice Palliative Care Association (BCHPCA) and Prince George Hospice Palliative Care Society were recently featured in a global piece published by the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC).

The article, Culturally Safer Care: Pause, reflect, share... then move forward, highlights a growing focus on culturally safer palliative and grief care across Canada, particularly for Indigenous communities. It also recognizes BCHPCA’s leadership in working across systems, alongside the First Nations Health Authority, and our commitment to ensuring hospice palliative care in B.C. is both community-driven and culturally responsive.

“Having Indigenous communities lead the conversation, with us as supporters, is where I’ve seen huge strides.”
— Pablita Thomas, Executive Director, BCHPCA

A Story of Hospice, Healing, and Honour

The feature also includes a deeply moving story from Cheyanne Toninato, who shared her experience of accompanying her great-grandmother Mary an Elder from Skwah First Nation through her final days at Rotary Hospice House in Prince George.

With the support of hospice staff, Cheyanne and her family held a wedding ceremony inside the hospice so Mary could attend. Mary passed peacefully two weeks later, surrounded by music, her favourite cocktail, and her dog, Elvis.

Since Mary’s passing, Cheyanne has raised $10,000 in her honour and become a passionate hospice advocate.

“They just treated my grandma with such respect and kept her pride and dignity. I’ll be forever grateful.”
— Cheyanne Toninato

A National and Provincial Shift

This article comes as the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) prepares to launch a new stream at its upcoming national conference:
"Indigenous Communities & Culturally Safer Care" designed to amplify Indigenous-led practices, traditional knowledge, and land-based healing models.

As BCHPCA continues to support hospice societies across B.C., we remain committed to walking alongside Indigenous communities and advocates to ensure care is not only accessible, but truly culturally safe.

“To care for someone, you need to know the uniqueness of that person. There is no ‘one size fits all.’”
— Donna Flood, Executive Director, Prince George Hospice Palliative Care Society

Read the full article:

IAHPC: Culturally Safer Care – April 2025 Edition