Palliative Approaches to Care in Aging and Community Health

About us

 Palliative Approaches is a program of research, led by Canada Research Chair (CRC) on Palliative Approaches to Care in Aging and Community Health and professor in the School of Nursing, Dr. Kelli Stajduhar. aimed at improving access and quality of care for people with serious health conditions and their caregivers. We work in partnership with people in community, health and social care systems, and government. Our partners are at the local, national, and international level.

Through our research, we stress the need for palliative approaches in underserved settings. We develop resources and tools, programs and services to improve care for those who face discrimination and exclusion.

Why a focus on community-based care?

 Several studies report that most people want to be cared for and to die at home, in their communities, surrounded by their chosen families. For over a decade, our research has focussed on changes needed in home and community-based care to make this a reality. We have sought to understand and target ways to meet the specific needs of:

• family caregivers,
• older adult populations who are vulnerable, face inequities, and have been excluded from mainstream palliative care services, and
• health care providers in developing knowledge to improve home and community-based care for aging populations.

Our work has an explicit focus on community-engaged, equity-oriented, and strengths-based approaches to integrating palliative approaches to care across settings.