We offered LEAP Personal Support Worker (PSW) as a value add to our program so that students could expand their knowledge in palliative care and improve their employability skills. After successful completion of the course, students were able to apply the learning and new skills directly into their practice. Moreover, after completion of Pallium Canada's course, multiple learners stated a new passion and increased interest in working as a personal support worker in a palliative care setting. The LEAP certificate also formed a basis for high specialization, resulting in higher starting wages for our graduates. Students in the program had such positive feedback about the Pallium course that FNTI intends to make it a regular practice to enroll our PSW students in the LEAP program moving forward.

As paramedics across the province are shifting away from responding to ‘emergencies only’ and moving toward helping in many community and non-emergency situations, palliative care is one of those areas that Paramedics can make a big difference in patients’ lives... This program gives our students the knowledge and assessment skills to assess and treat palliative patients, in turn keeping them out of the ER and in the comfort of their own homes.