Learning Institute Winter Series Program
2027 sessions for the 2026-2027 Learning Institute are now available and listed by month below. Additional sessions may be added to the Winter Series as we continue to bring the most updated educational opportunities to participants.
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January
January 13, 11:30AM to 3:00PM (Eastern)
Facilitated by: Ms. Sue Philips and Mrs. Carolyn Dillon, B.A., MSc.
Through discussion and practical examples, attendees of this session will explore how end-of-life doulas can strengthen caregiver support, improve continuity of care, and foster partnerships that enhance, rather than fragment, Canada’s end-of-life care landscape.
January 14, 12:30PM-4:00PM (eastern)
Facilitated by: Labhrás Quigley
End-of-life systems are not consistently meeting the needs of 2SLGBTQIA+ older adults, many of whom carry histories of stigma, discrimination, and exclusion within healthcare settings. This session shares emerging insights from a provincial initiative focused on improving inclusion across end-of-life care settings, including long-term care, hospice, and community-based services.
January 27, 11:30am – 3:00pm (Eastern)
Facilitated by: Mrs. Felicia Kontopidis, RN, MN, NP and Dr. Matthew Durham, D.Min.
This session will explore how hospice and palliative care organizations can design and deliver specialized programs that better serve structurally vulnerable populations, drawing on the Saint Elizabeth Foundation’s work since 2018.
January 28, 1:00pm to 4:30pm (Eastern)
Facilitated by: Ms. Zelda Freitas, MSW, SW
This session explores caregiver grief during and after caregiving as interconnected phases of the caregiving trajectory, highlighting the emotional, relational, cultural, and systemic dimensions that shape caregivers’ experiences.
February
February 2, 11:00am-2:30pm (Eastern)
Facilitated by: Ms. Holly Prince, PhD., MSW, Ms. Joanna Vautour, MSW, RSW,Ms. Jill Marcella, MSW (Gerontology), RSW, and Kathy MacLeod-Beaver
This session, a collaboration between the Centre for Education and Research on Aging & Health (CERAH), Lakehead University and the Canadian Virtual Hospice (CVH), is designed to bridge these gaps. The session focuses on essential processes of learning, unlearning, and reflecting to better support First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) individuals experiencing grief.
February 4, from 1:00pm – 4:30pm (Eastern)
Facilitated by: Mrs. Fabienne Germeil, RN, B.Sc.N, M.Sc.(A), PhD student
Despite advancements in palliative care, racialized communities continue to face systemic barriers to accessing high-quality, culturally safe end-of-life care. This session explores how equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) principles can be meaningfully integrated into palliative care practice, policy, and research.
February 10, from 11:30 am – 3:00 pm (Eastern)
Facilitated by: Dr. Katarina Vojvodic, M.D., PhD and Mr. Roman Sklotskiy, MSc in International Development
This session supports leadership development in palliative care by integrating evidence-informed competencies with Transactional Analysis and the Competing Values Framework. Leadership is presented as a set of developable skills, including teamwork, communication, and change management in complex healthcare settings.
February 11, from 12:00 pm – 3:30 pm (Eastern)
Facilitated by: Dr. Joshua Black, PhD and Stephanie Laing, PhD(c), MSW, RSW
People who experience both bereavement and homelessness are often unrecognized as grievers and are inadequately supported. This session will share insights from our research and discuss programs that have been developed to support both individuals experiencing homelessness and the professionals who work alongside them.
March
March 16 from 1:00pm -4:30pm (Eastern)
Visible Leadership in Hospice and Palliative Care: Strengthening Voice, Advocacy, and Sustainability
Facilitated by: Sheena Yap Chan
Hospice and palliative care professionals work in environments defined by complexity, compassion, and emotionally intensive decision-making. Clinical expertise and empathy are essential, but sustaining quality care also requires leadership confidence, communication clarity, and professional presence within interdisciplinary teams and system-level conversations. This session reframes confidence not as a personality trait, but as a measurable leadership competency that directly influences patient advocacy, team collaboration, workforce retention, and organizational resilience.
March 18, 12:00pm to 3:30pm (Eastern)
Facilitated by: Dr. Peter Barnes, BSc. M.Div. D.Min. CCC (CCPA), SEP (SEI), PST, SE, SEP (CASC/ACSS), Ms. Adriana Rengifo, M.A., RP (CRPO), SIP(ACPD), SCP(CASC/ACSS), and Ms. Christine Enfield, M.Div., SCP (CASC/ACSS), RCT (ACTA)
This session explores the essential role of Spiritual Care within palliative and bereavement care in Canada. Building on many years of advocacy and collaboration largely fostered by the late, Barbara MacCallum,and Dan Cooper, Spiritual Care Practitioner and Supervisor Educator, on behalf of the Board and membership of CASC/ACSS.
March 24, from 1:00pm – 4:30pm (Eastern)
Facilitated by: Sherry Hole, RN BN MN BC-HWMC, BC-NC, Janessa DeCoste, Rn, BScN, MN, NC-BC, and Janessa DeCoste, Rn, BScN, MN, NC-BC
Paediatric palliative care in community settings presents unique clinical, emotional, and logistical challenges for interdisciplinary providers who may have limited exposure to paediatric populations yet are increasingly called upon to deliver this care. This session will focus on approaches that can be readily integrated into everyday practice across community settings.
April
April 8 from 12:00pm – 3:00pm (Eastern)
Facilitated by: Mireille de Reland and Dr. Paula Holmes-Rodman, PhD
This interactive session introduces Narrative Prescriptions, a reflective practice approach integrating Narrative Medicine and mindfulness-informed practices to help clinicians recognize, reflect on, and respond to caregiver experiences.
April 15, 1:00pm – 4:30pm (Eastern)
Facilitated by: Maxxine Rattner, PhD, RSW
The prevention and relief of suffering, physical and non-physical, is a primary aim of palliative care. Research shows that interdisciplinary palliative care providers struggle more in their work specific to patients’ non-physical suffering than with their physical suffering. Drawing upon recent research, this session will provide space for participants to reflect on their own experiences working with non-physical suffering, increase their understanding of this form of suffering, and offer tips and tools to support front-line practice.
April 22, from 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm (Eastern)
Facilitated by: Dr. Raquel Meyer, PhD, RN, Dr. Cortney Smith, MD, CCFP, Ms. Tammi-Lee Rogowski, RN, CHPCN, CCHN and Dr. Cornie Woelk, MD, CCFP(PC), FCFP
This interactive CHPCA Learning Institute session focuses on strengthening clinical judgment in real-world situations where protocols alone are not enough. Using realistic case scenarios, participants will identify sources of uncertainty, weigh competing priorities, surface patient and family values, and consider responses they can explain with confidence. Scenarios reflect common challenges such as delayed initiation of a palliative approach, differing interpretations of the clinical situation, emotionally charged conversations, and care decisions shaped by resource or role constraints.
