6. Resources and Survey

Resources

Websites

Palliative Care

• Palliative.info—Palliative care links and resource material

Advanced Care Directives and Early Decision Making

• Speak Up Ontario offers suggestions for how to start the conversation about advanced care directives, as well as resources.
• This article discusses the value of ICU care at the end of life.
• A short video on how healthcare providers can help patients complete advance directives.

Dealing with Dying, Death and Grieving

• Death, Dying and Canadian Families by Dr. Katherine Arnup—The Vanier Institute of the Family (2013)
• From a cultural perspective—This resource provides a cultural overview of grieving. This resource from an investigator of the University of Illinois at Chicago contains useful information about the cultural influences on dying, death, and grieving.
• From a faith perspective—This document provides a summary of different faith perspectives on death and dying. A funeral planning service provides a great, detailed summary of different faith traditions’ rituals around dying, death, and mourning.
• From a communication perspective—This British resource looks at complaints about end-of-life care; it underlines the importance of initiating and having difficult conversations.
• From a training perspective—The renowned Center for the Advancement of Palliative Care has made a video providing a step-by-step guide to planning and having a difficult conversation on the premise that this is a skill that can be learned, as any other medical procedure is learned.
• This short video is a simple analogy explaining what palliative care is, who it’s for, and how it acts as a support in the ongoing process of living.
• The Palliative Care Network of Wisconsin has produced a resource that provides practical guidelines to dealing with intense emotions: the emotions of patients that also applies to their families. Listening and understanding helps the healthcare provider earn the right to gently yet clearly advocate for the patient when the patient is struggling to do so.

When Patients are Close to Death

• The City University of London (England) produces a bulletin for care home staff. This resource provides an invaluable, anecdotal perspective: what patients want at the end of life, in their own words.
• The Canadian Medical Association Journal published a study on what people want at the end of life. The three key words that emerged: truth, touch, and time.

Resources Related to Medical Assistance in Dying

• Information and guidelines from the Government of Canada
• Information and guidelines from the Government of Ontario
• For physicians, from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
• For nurses, from the College of Nurses of Ontario
• For pharmacists, from the Ontario College of Pharmacists

Books

MacDonald, Elisabeth ed. Difficult Conversations in Medicine. Oxford &New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Martin, John D. and Ferris, Frank D. I Can’t Stop Crying : It’s so hard when someone you love dies. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1992.

Objectives Review

In the design of this course, we hoped to achieve the following objectives:

• Understand the role of the healthcare provider as patient advocate on the palliative journey
• Become acquainted with the broad range of approaches to death and dying in Ontario’s multicultural society
• Understand the benefits patients gain from palliative care services at the end of life
• Reflect on your own feelings and beliefs about dying and death
• Consider the range of emotions that patients and their loved ones can experience on the palliative journey, and learn how to navigate conflicting goals and desires
• Recognize key features of legislation regarding medical assistance in dying

You’ve completed the course!

We hope that you found it helpful and thought-provoking.

The Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto is conducting an exit survey for this course to better understand how participants are benefitting from the Practice Readiness E-learning Program (PReP). Your participation in the survey is important and will help us identify areas where the PReP program is helping people the most and any areas that can be improved.

All of the information collected from the survey participants will be summarized and no names will be reported on, so please let us know how you really feel. Participation in the survey is completely voluntary, but we hope that you see the benefit of participating.

We need and value your feedback.