The improved coordination of palliative care services to provide the proper care in the right place and at the right time for individuals in Burlington and the region on their palliative journey continues to be a high priority.
Some challenges include providing better access to palliative care services in the community, making the health system easier to navigate, providing continuity of care as people move between care settings and providing culturally sensitive services to an increasingly diverse population.
Against this backdrop, people have overwhelmingly indicated their preference for spending their palliative journey at home or in a hospice rather than in a hospital setting, as is currently the situation for most cases.
The ultimate goals of our collaboration and coordination efforts will be to enable the development of a comprehensive, but not duplicated, range of programs and services that support the shift to hospice or in-home care throughout Burlington and the region. Given our ongoing constraints in funding and staff resources, our efforts and commitments toward this end will need to be undertaken within our capacity.
Goals:
- Become a focal point for helping individuals and service providers in navigating the palliative care system and in obtaining information and advice on the availability and suitability of palliative care programs, services and resources
- Be a recognized “expert” and leader in developing collaborative and coordinated initiatives and programs for the integration of palliative care programs and services
- Contribute to building palliative care programs and services that address the most important gaps and meet the greatest needs of individuals and their families while shifting delivery from hospital to community care
- Seek out opportunities for establishing pilot or ongoing new program or service initiatives with matching LHIN funds
- Advocate for and promote increased recognition and new government funding of palliative care in the health system with the LHIN and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care