The Quality End-of-Life Care Coalition of Canada (QELCCC) is proud to announce the release of the Blueprint for Action 2020-2025
The Quality End-of-Life Care Coalition of Canada (QELCCC) is a group of 35 national organizations dedicated to improving palliative care for all Canadians. The Coalition believes that all Canadians have the right to quality hospice palliative care. To achieve this, there must be a well-funded, sustainable national strategy for hospice palliative care. It is the mission of the QELCCC to work together in partnership to achieve this goal.
In 2010, the Quality End of Life Coalition of Canada (QELCCC) released the Blueprint for Action 2010-2020 which identified priority areas and recommendations for the last 10 years and provided a summary of progress made to date, current knowledge, issues and gaps. Moving forward, the Coalition produced the Blueprint for Action 2020-2025 to continue to improve quality hospice palliative care and access for all Canadians.
Of the over 270,000 Canadians who die each year, 90% die of chronic illness such as cancer, heart disease, organ failure, dementia or frailty. Many of these individuals could benefit from hospice palliative care (Framework on Palliative Care in Canada, 2018). By 2026, the number of deaths is projected to increase to 330,000 and to 425,000 by 2036 (Statistics Canada, 2009). These statistics suggest that the need for hospice palliative care in Canada will continue to grow. As part of this growth, the importance of supporting Canadians through grief and bereavement is becoming more evident. An integrated approach to palliative care that is multifaceted in nature and includes support to those who are grieving and bereaving will continue to be an essential component of care for Canadians.
The QELCCC advocates for the creation of a Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Implementation Collaborative as part of the Framework on Palliative Care in Canada (2018) that will enable a fully engaged strategy with a patient-centric approach to hospice palliative care.
One of the key challenges over the next five years will be informing Canadians that hospice palliative care is an essential service that should be provided to everyone. To achieve this goal, the QELCCC has identified four priorities:
1- Increasing public awareness around hospice palliative care’s benefits, issues and areas needing improvement, including support for caregivers and those experiencing grief and bereavement.
2- Ensuring health care providers, volunteers, communities, formal and informal caregivers and others have access to education and training to ensure they possess the required competencies to provide optimal care.
3- Contributing to systematic, standardized research and data collection on hospice palliative care with special interest including formal and informal caregivers, and grief and bereavement.
4- Advocating for universally accessible and culturally safe access to hospice palliative care for under-served populations and those who provide caregiving and experience grief and bereavement.
Download the full Blueprint for Action 2020-2025