2019 marked the 10th anniversary of the AHPCA Roadshow. Over the past decade the Roadshow travelled to all corners of the province, bringing hospice palliative care information to all Albertans, both rural and urban.
Thank you for these Roadshows. We can’t always travel to the big cities and this is wonderful.
past AHPCA Roadshow attendee
This year, the AHPCA Roadshow visited five communities in Alberta. In each location, AHPCA partners with local host groups who help us tailor each presentation to the unique needs of the community. We started the season in April with a robust crowd in Red Deer, hosted by the Red Deer Hospice Society. In May, we headed west to Canmore and were hosted by the Palliative Care Society of the Bow Valley. We then turned north and travelled to Peace River where our host was the Peace Palliative Care Society. Several participants at that location had traveled five to seven hours to attend! The Roadshow made a stop in Stony Plain/Spruce Grove, hosted by the Light Up Your Life Tri-Community Palliative Hospice Care Society. Finally in June, we went south to Brooks where the AHPCA Roadshow was hosted by the Prairie Rose Hospice Palliative Care Society.
This was a fantastic workshop, every minute of it! Such a help to me as a mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, RN, grief counsellor and palliative volunteer. Very engaging presentation.
2019 AHPCA Roadshow attendee
For the past few years, AHPCA received feedback asking for the Roadshow to tackle a tough topic: children and grief. We wondered if people would attend a workshop on such a sobering topic but we had nothing to worry about. Presenter Laura Coatsworth showed that when it comes to grief and kids, the topic is not as heavy as one may expect. Laura, a counsellor at Hospice Calgary’s Sage Centre , works with children and teens who have experienced a significant death in their lives. By the end of her half-day presentation, attendees knew a bit more about different grief models, looked at grief in the developmental and social context, learned how to identify factors that influence grief reactions for kids as well as how to support kids and families.
Dealing with youth is a challenge. Now I feel I can “talk death” easier.
2019 AHPCA Roadshow attendee
In the afternoon, presenter Kathy Cloutier, a funeral director with McInnis & Holloway for many years, addressed another topic often requested of AHPCA. Kathy spoke about the variety of cultural and religious traditions surrounding death. What is important both before and after death for Buddhists, Indigenous people, Hutterites, Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, Orthodox Christians, Hindus and Roman Catholics? Understanding and respecting traditions at such an important point of time in a family’s story is a small thing but it is important.
My most important takeway: Awareness of customs and traditions in times of bereavement.
2019 AHPCA Roadshow Attendee
After each Roadshow, attendees were given access to Laura’s and Kathy’s slide presentations as well as an extensive bibliography of books to help grieving families.
The balance of the practical and theoretical was so interesting.
2019 AHPCA Roadshow Attendee
AHPCA sincerely thanks each person who attended the 2019 Roadshow. We are particularly grateful to the Order of St. Lazarus – Calgary and Edmonton Commanderies – for the continued support of these valuable education workshops. The Roadshow would not be possible without their patronage. Our gratitude extends to our hosts in each location. Heartfelt thanks goes to our guest presenters, Laura Coatsworth and Kathy Cloutier.
