Pallium’s conducts and participates in research to help shape the future of palliative care education, transforming the way health care professionals care for patients with life-limiting illnesses and their families.
Our research
Advancing palliative care through research
Transforming palliative care education through research
Pallium Canada’s research and evaluation work is shaping the future of palliative care education in Canada.
Since its inception, Pallium has captured data and conducted research to better understand the effectiveness and impact of palliative care education including determining the benefits for patients, providers, health care system and advancing palliative care in Canada. From inquiry to data generation and data analysis, research helps to identify best practices that are evidence informed. Pallium is committed to sharing and applying these evidence-based practices and to continual improvement of its own courses and materials.
A complete list of Pallium’s direct contributions to the scientific literature on palliative care, publications and reports can be found in the Research Archive Library below.
Our work
The Dr. Joshua Shadd — Pallium Canada Research Hub at McMaster University
Pallium and McMaster University’s Department of Family Medicine launched Canada’s first palliative care educational research hub in 2019. The Research Hub undertakes work to advance palliative care educational research and measure the impact of continuing professional development on the health care system.
An evaluation and research framework to guide Pallium’s activities
Pallium’s Evaluation and Research framework was developed by a team of international experts to help with the study of Pallium’s programs and the impact of these programs. The Framework includes rich quantitative and qualitative data elements and research and evaluation priorities and questions to assess education, project implementation, and patient, care provider and health system impacts.
Building a national palliative care Atlas
The Dr. Joshua Shadd — Pallium Canada Research Hub is leading the development of a Canadian Palliative Care Atlas to map out existing strengths, areas of excellence, and gaps across regions and provinces with respect to palliative care service availability. The Atlas will showcase a graphical representation of the status of palliative care in Canada and serve to advance a systems-thinking approach to health care by identifying several benchmarks of excellence and leadership.
Evaluation of LEAP courses for health care providers in the Grey Bruce Region
In June 2023, Pallium Canada partnered with Brightshores Health System’s Research & System team to fund a research project led by Dr. Kelly Fenn, Physician Lead for Community Palliative Care in Grey Bruce, Ontario. This project will evaluate the effectiveness of Pallium’s Learning Essential Approaches to Palliative Care (LEAP) courses for health care providers in the Grey Bruce Region and address their impact on improving skills, knowledge, and competency levels among health care professionals in rural communities.
The absence of a singular reporting source or comprehensive data repository has left a significant gap in our understanding of palliative care in Canada. Pallium Canada and Cardus’ initiative to develop the Palliative Care Atlas for Ontario is a critical step towards mapping access to palliative care services across different care settings and patient populations. This work is not only necessary but pivotal for enhancing the delivery of palliative care across the province.
Leonie Herx MD PhD CHE CCFP(PC) FCFP
Palliative Medicine Consultant, Physician
Accurate data is the cornerstone of effective decision-making. This tool will inform the Ontario government and enable them to ensure they meet their commitments, ensuring that every Ontarian who needs palliative care has better access to high quality services.
Ray Pennings
Executive Vice President, Cardus
Research Library
Pallium’s LEAP courses provide the foundation needed to make the most of these palliative care resources. We also offer programs and resources to support community care.
About Pallium Canada
Pallium Canada is dedicated to improving palliative care for all Canadians through education and research. For over two decades, Pallium has focused on capturing data and conducting research to understand the impact of our palliative care education courses and collaborative efforts with partners. Supported by foundational research and partnerships with academic institutions, including the Dr. Joshua Shadd Pallium Canada Research Hub, Pallium’s work continues to drive practice change in health care.
Learn more about the story of Pallium’s evolution, including the pedagogical theory behind LEAP to the success behind spreading and scaling the palliative care approach.
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