More than half of Canadians report having had someone close to them receive palliative care within the last decade . Despite this , a 2016 poll revealed that forty-two per cent of Canadians were unfamiliar with palliative care , while less than half had talked about their care preferences .
Vic asserts that change is needed around how we discuss — or rather don ’ t discuss — serious illness and death .
“ Nobody wants to talk about death ,” he explains . “ Grief has a way of coming at you in unexpected ways , and when it does , you ’ re in no state to make important decisions . You have to have these discussions ahead of time .”
“ I had no prior knowledge of palliative care . Even as they took my mother to the unit , I really had no idea what it entailed . It was only after being there for several days that I came to understand what it was ,” he says .
Palliative care is care to relieve the symptoms and stress of living with a serious illness , with a focus on achieving the best quality of life possible . It is sometimes referred to as comfort care , supportive care , or symptom management .
Ben Freeland is a professional writer and a communications advisor with Covenant Health ’ s Palliative Institute and the webmaster for Compassionate Alberta . Last year , prompted by his work for the institute , he did his own advance care planning , knowing that he didn ’ t want the people he loves to have to make impossible decisions amid the stress of a medical emergency .
This article was originally published in the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta ’ s LawNow : Relating Law to Life in Canada magazine ( April 2023 ) at lawnow . org . It is reprinted here thanks to LawNow and with the permission of the author who shortened it for us for this issue .
For more information on ACP and palliative care , visit the Covenant Health Palliative Institute ’ s CompassionateAlberta . ca website . Its resources include the My Wishes Alberta workbook aimed at helping people determine their care preferences and the Plan Ahead Toolkit designed to support ACP workshop facilitators . It also includes Understanding Palliative Care , an interactive learning module designed to increase awareness of palliative care .
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