2020 AHPCA Roadshow Registration is Open!
We live in a death-denying culture. While most people grudgingly admit that they are aware of their own eventual death, death remains something rarely discussed. Continued improvements in medical technology fuel temptation to ignore its limits, create a defiant attitude about death and dying, and suggest a failure when death eventually occurs.
Guest presenters, Blair Collins, grief counsellor and life coach, and Darrin Parkin, spiritual care clinician, will examine:
- The various factors that have influenced our cultural denial of death
- The importance of personal meaning-making and spirituality as we reflect on our own individual mortality
- What the dying have to teach us about living
- The insights of palliative care as a way of removing the dread around death
- Accepting mortality as an integral part of the human experience, and how that might impact the practice of medicine
Workshop: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Registration and coffee 8:30 a.m. Lunch provided.
$50 for public ($40 for Cold Lake due to CLPCS subsidy) I $25 for 2020 AHPCA members
$10 for students (proof of enrollment required) I $5 for student AHPCA members
This workshop may be used for Continuing Education Credits
Wednesday
April 29, 2020
Friday
May 1, 2020
Friday
May 8, 2020
Monday
May 11, 2020
Wednesday
May 13, 2020
Jean Stone Scholarship 2020 Applications are Open!
AHPCA is now accepting applications for the Jean Stone Scholarship, generously supported by the Stone Family for the fourth year. The scholarship is in memory of their beloved wife, mother and grandmother, Jean Stone, who was a nurse, caring for others throughout her 
career. This scholarship of up to $500 is intended to support volunteers working in palliative care by helping to broaden their knowledge. AHPCA will award a minimum of two scholarships each year.
The scholarship must be put towards the cost of a conference our course on palliative care. This could be an upcoming educational opportunity in 2020, or one that took place within the past six months (June 1 – December 31, 2019).
The deadline for submitting applications is March 31, 2020.
Please Tell Us Your Story
Did you take time off work to care for a terminally ill friend or family member?
AHPCA is seeking stories of financial, physical and mental hardship you may have experienced after your Compassionate Care Leave benefits ended upon the death of your loved one. If you did not receive any benefits, we are still interested in hearing what hardships you may have experienced during and after your caregiving.
AHPCA is advocating to extend Compassionate Care benefits for a few weeks past the death of a loved one. This will allow caregivers time to heal and help them take care of the practical necessities following a death, without experiencing economic hardship. Under current legislation, benefits end quite soon after the death.
Your stories will help us make an argument to expand this benefit.
Thank you in advance for your willingness to share your stories with us. We will treat them with care and dignity. If we think we could use your story to help with our advocacy work, we will contact you for further discussion.
If you have a story to share, please send it to communications@ahpca.ca as soon as possible.
Does Your Hospice Society want to Participate in the Nav-CARE Program?
The Nav-CARE Program (Navigation – Connecting, Accessing, Resourcing and Engaging) builds upon years of collaborative work with community, provincial, and national knowledge partners in the area of upstream palliative care.
The overall goal of the Nav-CARE program is to improve the quality of life of seniors living at home. With Nav-CARE, specially trained volunteer navigators conduct regular visits with clients in the home. Nav-CARE volunteers work with seniors to improve their quality of life. These are the things that seniors identify that would “make their life more liveable.” They are often the little things in life that make a big difference.
Nav-CARE is truly a community-based program with 18 sites currently implementing across Canada. It was designed to be implemented in any community no matter how big or small or how rural or urban. There are, however, two key ingredients required for any community interested in setting up a Nav-CARE program. These are:
Resources (e.g., dedicated time for community engagement, leading, planning and implementing the program, experienced volunteers, etc.)
Linkages to local social and health networks (e.g., community stakeholders, social services, physicians, primary care nurses, etc.)
Included in your participation in the program is validated evaluation measures and processes. The research team is responsible for identifying important time points for evaluation and for aggregating and analyzing evaluation data. The organization is responsible for providing the evaluation tools to clients and family at the time designated by the research team and for returning those tools in the self-addressed envelopes provided.
If you are interested in learning more about becoming a Nav-CARE implementation site please contact either:
Barb Pesut PhD, RN, School of Nursing, University of British Columbia
barb.pesut@ubc.ca or 250-807-9955
Wendy Duggleby PhD, RN, Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta
wendy.duggleby@ualberta.ca or 780-492-8660
AHPCA Self-Care Video Series
AHPCA invites you to share these videos with your clients, friends, colleagues or family who might benefit.
These short videos are a resource for people who need answers but do not have easy access to help.
Topics:
Vicarious Trauma – What is it?
Vicarious Trauma – Dealing with it
Vicarious Trauma – Seek support
Compassion Fatigue – What is it?
Rituals & Grief – No rules
Personal Rituals
Self Care Moment – Colouring
Self Care Moment – Grounding
Using relaxation and stress reduction exercises are an excellent way to feel better in the moment. Many of us have anxiety and that feeling intensifies when we are in distress. Relaxing changes that response. The body and mind are closely linked; relaxing the body relaxes the mind.
Take a few minutes to escape on a mental vacation. Breathe deeply and choose a Relaxation Moment (length of video is in brackets).
Topics:
Introduction to Relaxation Moments
Relaxation Moment Morning at Hauula, Oahu (1:33)
Relaxation Moment: A Stroll Along Waikiki Beach (3:45)
Relaxation Moment: Fountains of Waikiki (2:52)
Relaxation Moment: North Shore Waves on Oahu (2:26)
Relaxation Moment: Streams at Waimea Park (2:57)
Relaxation Moment: Waikiki Waves (2:50)
Relaxation Moment: Sunset at Ala Moana (10:43)
Online Resource Directory
Services vary across the province and we have found that many Albertans feel isolated and uninformed during this very vulnerable time of their lives. Albertans have told us that they want an accessible user friendly online Resource Directory specializing in palliative and end of life care services throughout Alberta.
AHPCA has received a grant from the Eldon and Anne Foote Fund at Edmonton Community Foundation to research, develop and host this online palliative directory data base. It incorporates a province wide data base with an easy to use interactive map.
Membership
The Alberta Hospice Palliative Care Association (AHPCA) endeavours to represent the voice of the palliative care consumers, professionals and volunteers in Alberta. We believe that all Albertans have the right to equitable access to end of life care, and we promote participation through the building of partnerships, collaboration and innovation.
Your membership in the AHPCA automatically entitles you to membership with the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA).
As a joint member you will receive: palliative care news, AHPCA updates, CHPCA newsletters, reduced conference and workshop rates, and an opportunity to add your voice to our advocacy efforts on behalf of all Albertans.
