News

The Memorial Society of BC is calling on its members and the general public to urge the BC Government to legalize greener options for the disposition of human remains in British Columbia.

At this time, British Columbians only have the options of cremation and burial for the disposition of their bodies. Both forms have harmful impacts on our environment. Fortunately, greener technologies have emerged, but they are not yet available in British Columbia. These include Alkaline Hydrolysis and Natural Organic Reduction – see below.

The Memorial Society strongly supports that residents of BC should have choice when it comes to disposition and access to eco-friendly technologies. As these technologies are already established in jurisdictions in Canada and the United States, there is little reason why they should not be available to British Columbians.

We are calling on the BC Government to amend the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act to legalize Alkaline Hydrolysis and Natural Organic Reduction. This Act falls under the responsibility of the Attorney General, the Honourable Niki Sharma.

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For over 40 years, hospice societies have provided essential end-of-life care, grief support, and bereavement services to individuals and families. With the help of over 3,600 trained volunteers, these services reach more than 10,000 people each month. However, many individuals remain unaware of the full range of hospice services available to them. The BC Hospice Palliative Care Association (BCHPCA) is committed to increasing awareness and ensuring that those in need receive the care and support they deserve.

Read the Full Media Release

Currently, millions of people globally are experiencing psychological stress because of the compounded effects of social, political, economic, and environmental instability.(1, 2) More than 110 armed conflicts are actively raging across five world regions, reducing the quality of everyday life, including services and supports provided to people with end-of-life and palliative care needs.(3)

In 2023, we drew attention to the link between palliative care and the climate crisis, highlighting the fact that patients and caregivers struggle with climate-related disasters, food and water insecurity, and emerging and remerging vector-borne diseases alongside their existing (and sometimes unmet and worsening) palliative care needs.(4)

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"Reflecting on this experience, I realize that caregiving is deeply embedded in tradition and culture, a natural extension of communal life."

ehospice editorial on traditions, culture and palliative care.

Yesterday afternoon, BC Finance Minister Brenda Bailey tabled the first provincial budget of the 43rd BC Legislative Assembly. The BC Hospice and Palliative Care Association (BCHPCA) is calling on the BC government to address the significant underfunding of hospice and palliative care. While the budget included investments in mental health, addictions, and long-term care, no dedicated funding was allocated to hospice and palliative care services.

With over 45,000 British Columbians impacted by loss each year, and many relying on hospice and palliative care, there is an urgent need for targeted funding. Currently, less than 3% of the provincial health budget is allocated to palliative and hospice care, with many services depending on unsustainable donations. This has led to the closure of hospices, particularly in rural areas. The BCHPCA urges the government to prioritize equitable, sustainable funding for end-of-life care and grief support to better serve BC’s communities.

Read BCHPCA's Response

Last week, the BC Throne Speech was delivered by the Lieutenant Governor, Wendy Cocchia, with a significant focus on mental health, indirectly highlighting the importance of services and supports delivered by the Hospice and Palliative Care community. Please read the BCHPCA response below, which emphasizes the need for better grief and bereavement support, as timely care is essential to prevent complex mental health challenges for those experiencing loss. Currently, only 32% of hospice staff provide regulated grief support, and hospices rely on donations to sustain their services. The community calls for increased funding to ensure accessible, low-barrier care, especially in underserved areas, and to address the growing need for support as families cope with grief.

BCHPCA Throne Speech.pdf

Please email alexandra.frail@mcgill.ca with any tributes you may have.

Co-led by the BC Centre for Palliative care and First Nations Health Authority, this project developed a consensus statement to guide nursing decision making for people receiving palliative care who need subcutaneous medications for symptom management at home.

Read The Statement

The Need

Many people living with serious illness are cared for at home as their illness progresses. Family caregivers play an essential role. When people with life-limiting illness are prescribed subcutaneous medications and are receiving nursing care at home, there are nursing decisions to be made related to the tasks involved in the medications’ preparation and administration.

In Canada, it is common for home care nurses to pre-draw and label subcutaneous medications for family caregivers to administer to people with advanced progressive life-limiting illness at home. However, there is limited evidence to base guidelines for this nursing practice and significant variability in existing guidelines. Some standards specify that medication should only remain in syringes for a short period of time before administration, whereas others guide nurses to consider several related factors in the decision.

Application of standards designed for facility-based care settings or for pharmacy compounding of parenteral medications can profoundly impact the ability for subcutaneous medications for palliative care to be provided within a person’s home.

The Approach

An expert team of nurses, prescribers, pharmacists and family members with lived experience created a consensus statement to address this reference gap.

We adapted a consensus method called the Delphi process, combining input from meetings of a provincial working group and surveys with an expert panel of Clinicians experienced in palliative home care: 13 Nurses, 1 Nurse Practitioner, 2 Physicians, 2 Pharmacists; and focused discussions with 2 people with lived experience of giving medications in a syringe to a person with palliative needs at home.

Informed by a literature review and environmental scan, the provincial working group and expert panel provided their thoughts and opinions of the applicability and importance of identified factors and considerations for the decisions involved with preparing and administering subcutaneous medications for people with palliative needs at home. This information was synthesized by the team and provincial working group into a consensus statement.

The expert statement reached 100% consensus by the panel of clinicians and people with lived experience (n=20).

The consensus statement includes implications for the health system, practice, people living with life-limiting illness and family caregivers, education and research. In addition, the document includes the evidence base and a list of nursing decision-making factors in preparation of subcutaneous medication for people receiving palliative care at home based on consensus of experts.

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The Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA)  announced the 25 distinguished recipients of the King Charles III Coronation Medal. We are proud to honor these exceptional champions of hospice palliative care from across Canada with this prestigious award.

The British Columbia Hospice Palliative Care Association (BCHPCA) is equally thrilled to share that one of our esteemed Board Members, Dr. Shannon Freeman, is among the honourees.

Join in celebrating these remarkable individuals at a virtual ceremony on February 28, 2025, at 2:30 PM EST. Their invaluable contributions have significantly strengthened the quality of hospice palliative care in Canada. Click here to register and attend the ceremony.

Click here for the CHPCA Press Release and to see the names of the 25 honourees. 

Did you know that seniors with dementia in Canada have a mortality rate 4.3 times higher than other seniors? Yet, they are significantly less likely to receive palliative or hospice care. This alarming gap highlights the urgent need for improved access to palliative care for dementia patients across the country.

Here are some key stats:

• Over 402,000 seniors in Canada are living with dementia, and this number is expected to rise as the population ages. By 2031, healthcare costs related to dementia will double, reaching $8.3 billion annually.
  
• In 2015, 67% of seniors with dementia who died in acute care hospitals had palliative care needs, but only 21% received primary palliative care, compared to 41% of cancer patients.

In December 2023, as part of our Winter Lunch and Learn Series, we hosted a webinar on “Dementia Care For Clients And Families - A Palliative Approach”. We covered important topics such as:

• Understanding the different presentations of common dementias
  
• Communicating with a client who has dementia
  
• Caring for caregivers, interdisciplinary team & volunteers
  
• Person-centered End-of-Life Care for Persons Living with Dementia and their Families/Chosen Families & Anticipatory Grief

The full recording, presentation slides, and resources are available exclusively to BCHPCA members.

Not a member yet? Join us today to access these invaluable resources. https://bchpca.org/Join-us
Together, we can raise awareness and drive change for those living with dementia, their families, and caregivers.

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