But there aren’t enough of us!: How a palliative approach to care could expand our capacity.
Learning objectives:
Participants will
Recognize the interplay between a palliative approach to care and palliative care.
Explore the growing need for cancer related palliative care
Understand the critical component that primary palliative care plays in expanding our capacity to meet the growing palliative care needs in Alberta
Short abstract:
Cancer (all types combined) is the leading cause of death in Alberta, taking the lives of 6400 Albertans 2022. With steadily rising incidence and mortality rates our capacity to provide high quality end of life care is going to be stretched beyond anything we have seen before. Once approach that would help us meet the challenges ahead is integration of a palliative approach to care which optimizes the use of primary, secondary and tertiary palliative care, based on the complexity of patient care needs and the setting where the patient is receiving care. This will require careful collaboration across programs and sectors in healthcare, but it can be done!
Bio:
Dr. Linda Watson has been an oncology nurse in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for over 30 years. She has held a variety of nursing and inter-professional leadership roles within the CancerControl Alberta (CCA) provincial program and currently holds the role of Scientific Director, Applied Research and Patient Experience.
Dr. Watson also holds an adjunct professor position with the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary and is past President of the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology (CANO). She is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the International Society for Nurses in Cancer Care (ISNCC).