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This research brief explores the EOL care and bereavement needs of family members whose loved ones have recently died in a LTC home.

The aim of the study is to (a) compare differences across occupational groups related to their palliative care-specific educational needs and to (b) explore the intensity of Inter-Professional Collaborative Approach in LTC

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.

An increasing number of residents require a palliative approach to care in long-term care (LTC) homes; these settings are ill-prepared and often provide sub-optimal palliative care. The SPA-LTC program is a novel intervention that addresses these issues by building capacity among LTC staff to improve the delivery of a palliative approach.

This study seeks to expand upon the efforts being made to support resident comfort in LTC homes by determining what aspects of EOL care are associated with a caregiver's perceptions of a 'good' resident death.

BACKGROUND: Consistent guidelines and policies have the potential to improve quality of life in residents living in long-term care (LTC) settings by standardizing and promoting comprehensiveness in palliative care RESEARCH TOPIC: To analyze the extent of palliative content across high-level guiding documents related to the care of persons residing in Canadian LTC homes

To analyze components of the current palliative model of care in LTC and refine them for use within a Canadian context