Based on a review of CHPCA’s Directory of Services in Spring 2022, CHPCA identified and provided updated information and dedicated in-patient hospice palliative care (HPC) bed counts in hospice residence programs to provide a current count of the number of those programs and beds available in Canada. In total, including other in-patient, outpatient, or other types of programs and services, the Directory features 622 listings of organizations or programs that offer services or care related to hospice palliative care. These include listings for 142 hospice residence programs.
Key Findings
- In Canada, as of May 31, 2022, there are 142 hospice residence programs, including:
- 122 hospice residence programs for adults
- 2 hospice residence programs serving the homeless communities, one in Ottawa, Ontario and the other in Toronto, Ontario.
- 13 hospice residence programs for all ages.
- 7 hospice residence programs for children under 18.
- 122 hospice residence programs for adults
- The Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) captured 1,530 beds in hospice residences (3.97 beds per 100,000 people) available nationally.
- Among the provinces, we see bed rates per 100,000 people that range from 1.15 in Manitoba, to 8.47 in British Columbia.
- In the territories, Yukon has one hospice residence program that offers 18 beds, and both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut do not have a hospice residence.
- 86 beds are dedicated exclusively to pediatric hospice palliative care across Canada in hospice residence settings.
This report focuses on the number of in-patient beds in a hospice residence setting that are dedicated or available for palliative care. It does not capture the availability or number of places or beds available in other in-patient settings, or in out-patient, community-based, home-based, respite care, or day-programs that also provide care to the people and families who receive palliative care.
What is a hospice residence?
While there is no existing formal national definition for what constitutes a hospice residence in Canada, the definition provided in Pallipedia by the International Association for Hospice Palliative Care (IAHPC) for inpatient hospice is:
“An inpatient hospice admits patients in their last phase of life, when treatment in a hospital is not necessary and care at home or in a nursing home is not possible. The central aims of an inpatient hospice are the alleviation of symptoms and achievement of the best possible quality of life until death, as well as bereavement support. […] An inpatient hospice requires a multi professional team that cares for patients and their relatives using a holistic approach.”
– Inpatient hospice. IAHPC Pallipedia. Accessed August 18, 2022.
This definition also states that an inpatient hospice should provide a homelike environment. This definition largely reflects both the current understanding of what constitutes a hospice residence in Canada and the program listings categorised as hospice residences in the Directory.
Acknowledgments
Funding for this report was provided by the Canadian Cancer Society through the Don Green Palliative Care Advocacy Team, whose goal is to relentlessly champion solutions that improve access to, awareness, and quality of palliative care across Canada. The Team’s work is made possible by a generous donation from the Don and Shirley Green Family Charitable Foundation.
Thank you to Andrea Bird and Derek Bird for their invaluable contributions to the development of this report. Report prepared by Katrielle Ethier, with support from Nick Walling.