• Three quarters of British Columbians who die, do so without being identified as people     who could benefit from the services associated with palliative care.
  • Specialized palliative units and hospices are essential for end of life care but not appropriate for all persons facing life-limiting chronic conditions. By offering a palliative approach in multiple settings, we can better care for people and their families through the many transitions of chronic conditions like dementia, lung, kidney and heart diseases, and cancer.

  • Through research, we create new knowledge about how nurses can further integrate palliative philosophies and services into non-specialized settings that provide end-of-life care.
  •  
    Throughout BC, people are dying in many settings including residential care facilities, on general hospital wards and at home. Our research seeks to understand how to apply and integrate the palliative approach to any care setting where people with life-limiting chronic conditions are cared for.


  • Our research is informed by and informs clinical practice.
  • By creating a cycle of nursing practice to nursing research and back again, we can ensure our research is informed by clinical practice. And that the evidence we gather is relevant, useful, and well-communicated to nurses. We accomplish this through our partnerships with both practicing and academic nurses throughout BC.

  • Our ultimate goal is to advance the further integration of the palliative approach into nursing practice in every care setting.
  •  
    We know this takes the support and cooperation of many parties including health professionals, employers and health care consumers, but we believe that nurses can and will contribute to a better and more supported experience for British Columbians toward the end of their lives.

What's New?

iPANEL Thinking Outside the Box Meeting - hosted by VIHA on May 7, 2013

A big THANK YOU to all the nurses and other health care professionals who attended our meeting on May 7, 2013.  Special thanks to iPANEL Affiliates:  Lorna Ross, Dawn Dompierre, and Carolyn Wilkinson for all your help with planning this event.  The discussion and feedback by the participants was outstanding.  It is always a privilege as a research team to share our findings with nurses who are working on the front lines. Here are what some participants had to say:

IMG 0711"I enjoyed the group discussion and found support from colleagues about things I have experienced  - there were some people around the table with wonderful ideas. "

"Workshops like this one really demonstrate how research can directly affect practice"

"Very comfortable and open atmosphere for meaningful discussions"

The purpose of these meetings is to engage front line nurses in discussions around iPANEL research findings and how these can be integrated into their nursing practice.  These are interactive sessions with the engagement of iPANEL Co-investigators and Health Authority Affiliates. 

Look for our next hosted Thinking outside the box meeting in Northern Health - Fall of 2013.

AND...

New British Columbia End-of-Life Action Plan Announced by the BC Ministry of Health

With their slogan "Families First" the BC Ministry of Health has just announced in March that there will be millions of dollars funnelled into BC's end-of-life care health services.  While this naturally includes a large contribution to hospice funding - it was encouraging to see a boost in funds towards other end-of-life care as well.

A Provincial Centre for Excellence in End-of-Life Care is to be established in the lower mainland.  iPANEL Co-Lead Investigator and Director of End-of-Life Care at Fraser Health Authority, Carolyn Tayler, is expected to take a key role in the development of this centre.  The centre will focus on accelerating innovation and best practice in quality care for people with life-limiting illnesses. Using research, education, information management, policy and clinical care - the knowledge and tools generated will be shared with health-care professionals and anyone who is interested throughout British Columbia, Canada and worldwide.

For a copy of the new BC End-of-Life Action Plan click HERE. If you would like more information about this BC Ministry of Health Announcement follow this LINK.

iPanel Events

Tue May 28 @14:00 - 03:00PM
iPANEL Webinar - A Palliative Approach in ethno cultural communities
Tue Jun 25 @14:00 - 03:00PM
iPANEL Webinar - Honoring Thy Self: Disenfranchised Grief and the Professional Caregiver
View Full Calendar

Recent Tweets

http://t.co/YoNrQL5Pfm | Researcher searches for global views of nurses' end-of-life care for patients | "We rely on the patients' VOICE"

http://t.co/DywE5vsmaN - In nursing, specializing is ‘the new normal’ | Is this a good thing - how will this affect a holistic approach?