Compassionate Communities
When it comes to palliative care, the health care system is only part of the equation.
Compassionate Communities respond to local community needs and empower individuals to provide important physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and practical support to patients, families, and caregivers.
At its core, a Compassionate Community is about improving the quality of life for people with a life-limiting illness and their families by encouraging people to advocate and provide assistance and practical support within their community.
Pallium’s role is to accelerate the creation of Compassionate Communities across Canada, connect and enable them to support collaboration and knowledge transfer, and evaluate their impact.
Where does care take place?
Family caregivers provide more than 80% of care needed by patients with serious illness or long-term conditions and contribute $25 billion in unpaid labour to our health system.
With Canada’s aging population, the number of caregivers and the support needed from those caregivers is expected to increase.
Compassionate Communities widen the circle of caring and provide much-needed support to patients and caregivers facing serious illness and death.
How can you launch a Compassionate Community?
Living Well Until the End: The Role of Community
The Honourable Sharon Carstairs shares her thoughts on the importance of palliative and end-of-life care in Canada and the role of community in shaping change.