Hospice bene ts from a compassionate community
Colchester East Hants Hospice is taking it to the community in the coming days, as National Hospice Palliative Care Week is marked.
“We’ve created a week of activities and events that will put us out into the community, partnering with local businesses and organizations, to raise awareness. We’ve made a special e ort to be creative,” says CEHH executive director Craig Johnson.
e theme for 2018, “Towards a more compassionate Canada, Eh?” encourages Canadians to consider ways community involvement can support the dying and bereavement process.
Canadians are being asked to answer these questions: What makes a compassionate community? How can compassionate communities support end of life care?
“When we think about death and dying we often imagine a hospital setting, and that can be a very frightening image for people,” says CHPCA Executive Director Sharon Baxter. “When individuals are actively engaged in their communities they surround themselves with a network of caring allies who can support their end of life wishes and contribute to living well. Within a compassionate communities’ model, living and dying well becomes everybody’s business.”
Johnson says the CEHH is offering a number of new initiatives in keeping with the occasion, including Film Night at Noveltea book store, a panel discussion on Historical and Cultural Perspectives on Death, Dying, and Grief at the Colchester Historeum, and a Variety Show at First United Church. As well, a series of information sessions are planned, along with an open house, and other events.
“The Colchester East Hants Hospice fully embraces the principles behind the Compassionate Communities movement,” says Johnson.
For this year’s campaign, the CHPCA has created four downloadable posters that visually represent the different ways compassionate communities can support living well, as well as a backgrounder and resource list.
Canadians throughout the health-care sector and other individuals are encouraged to use the hashtag #Mycompassionatecanada to share their experiences with compassionate care, ideas for living well, and their thoughts on how to come together for support now and at the end of life.
National Hospice Palliative Care Week runs from May 6-12.
The full schedule of activitieses for National Hospice Palliative Care Week in Colchester East Hants can be found by visiting www. cehhospice. org/ nhpcw2018/.