Equity-Informed Palliative Care: Research and Strategies

Course description

Palliative care is an approach to care that focuses on quality of life, and the physical, social, emotional and spiritual aspects of the dying experience. When someone is dying who is also homeless or barely housed, access to palliative care services can become difficult. People who are impacted by structural inequities such as inadequate housing, racialization, classism, stigmatization of substance use and mental illness continue to experience persistent health and health care inequities and challenges accessing health care services. Access to health care services at the end of life (EOL) is especially problematic for those who are “structurally vulnerable”. Higher incidences of substance use, severe mental illness, and homelessness and unstable housing, contribute to barriers accessing the health services needed to ensure quality EOL care. This course engages participants to consider what it takes to create equity for all at the end-of-life, drawing on current research findings and clinical experiences of working with structurally vulnerable people at the end of life.

This is a professional development course for health and helping professionals and volunteers engaged with structurally vulnerable populations.