Researcher
SPA-LTC Alliance Information
The Strengthening a Palliative Approach in Long-Term Care Alliance is a national collaboration of people who aim to improve the quality of living and dying within long-term care homes.
Broadening End-of-Life Comfort to Improve Palliative Care Practices in Long-Term Care
The goal of this study was to examine how palliative care principles (PCP) can best be integrated in LTC is a pressing issue by exploring the tensions associated with caring for the living and dying within one care
community and informing how PCP may be improved.
Whose role is it anyways? Using pamphlets to activate early conversations about end-of-life care in long-term care
This study explores the development and use of five condition specific pamphlets aimed at supporting LTC staffs’ capacity to (a) inform residents and families about the trajectory of their primary medical condition and (b) initiate conversations about EOL care.
Heart work: A thematic analysis of compassion in long-term care
This research brief explores perceptions about compassion when delivering palliative care from the perspective of residents, family members, and healthcare providers in LTC. It identifies potential facilitators and barriers associated with providing compassionate care to residences in Canadian LTC settings.
Mind the gap: Is the Canadian long—term care workforce ready for a palliative care mandate?
The aim of this paper is to explore the readiness of Canadian LTC homes for a palliative care mandate by exploring (1) efficacy for palliative care, (2) self-reported patient-centered behaviour relevant to palliative care, and (3) quality of work life at LTC homes in four Canadian provinces.
“Now I don’t have to guess”: Using Pamphlets to encourage residents and families/friends to engage in advance care planning in long-term care
Advance care planning (ACP) helps individuals with progressive, life-limiting illnesses communicate their preferences for end-of-life (EOL) care to family members and healthcare providers. Despite known benefits, ACP is rarely utilized in LTC settings. To address the barriers of ACP in LTC, our team developed, implemented, and evaluated the effects of disease-specific illness trajectory pamphlets (ITPs) for five life-limiting advanced clinical syndromes of high prevalence in LTC: dementia, heart failure, COPD, renal failure, and frailty.