Schedule

Registration and Continental Breakfast of assorted fresh pastries; selection of fruit juices; Salt Spring Organic Fair-Trade Coffee and assorted teas.

Join us in the Ceremonial Hall where Dr. Skip Dick will welcome attendees on the traditional territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Esquimalt) Peoples, on whose territory the university stands.

Opening remarks with University of Victoria and EAPC leadership along with the co-chairs of the conference.

Presented by Dr. Libby Sallnow. The Lancet Commission on the Value of Death (2022) examined contemporary death from a global perspective. It took a complex systems approach to death, dying, caregiving, and grieving, recognising the wider determinants and their intersectional nature. Changes across “death systems,” the many inter-related social, cultural, economic, religious and political factors that determine how death, dying, and bereavement are understood, experienced and managed, are essential if experiences are to be improved and death is brought back into life.

Equity in cancer care as an upstream public health approach to palliative care: Findings from a qualitative study. Presented by Tara Horrill and Jess Crawford, University of Manitoba Identifying Equity Gaps in Palliative Care Access: A Co-Design Process. Presented by Jessica Simon, University of Calgary, University of Alberta Understanding Bereavement in the Context of Homelessness from Those with a Lived Experience. Presented by Joshua Black, Stephanie Laing, BC Centre for Palliative Care Providing Palliative Care Navigation to Refugees Claimants in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA): An Innovative Approach to Equitable Access to Palliative Care. Presented by Priya Gupta, McMaster University

Community-based Palliative Care Approach: A potential Solution to Address Gaps in Support for Patients and Families Seeking Medical Assistance in Dying. Presented by Caroline Variath, Vancouver Island University, Island Health Recognizing and valuing caregivers to improve life and death experiences of underserved and excluded communities. Presented by Ashley Mollison, Institute on Aging & Lifelong Health, University of Victoria Rethinking Early Palliative Care: Understanding Its Real-World Impact on Survival in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Presented by Katie Goldie, Queen's University The Intersections of Palliative Care and Homelessness in Canadian Social Policy. Presented by Jeffrey Walsh, McGill University

Family caregivers provide the majority of care for individuals with complex chronic conditions, frailty, and age-related needs, contributing 75-90% of community care and 15-40% of care in congregate settings. Despite their critical role, they often lack support, recognition, and the necessary tools to navigate the demands of caregiving. The WHO’s WHA67.19 resolution calls for integrating palliative care into healthcare systems, prioritizing underserved populations and addressing social determinants of health. However, healthcare providers frequently report insufficient training to engage and support family caregivers effectively. This workshop responds to this gap by equipping healthcare professionals with the skills and strategies to integrate caregiver-centered care into their practice. Objectives: This interactive workshop aims to: 1. Recognize family caregivers as essential partners in palliative care. 2. Enhance healthcare providers' skills in engaging and supporting caregivers. 3. Address barriers to caregiver inclusion and promote culturally safe care. 4. Provide practical strategies for integrating caregiver-centered practices into healthcare settings. Workshop Approach: The session will employ a mix of: Case Studies: Real-world caregiver experiences to contextualize challenges. Facilitated Discussions: Exploring barriers, opportunities, and best practices. Interactive Exercises: Role-playing and group discussions to reinforce learning. Action Planning: Identifying strategies for applying caregiver-centered care in practice. Hosted by: Sharon Anderson 1, Jasneet Parmar 1, Safiqa Khera 2, Lesley Charles1 , Tanya L'Heureux1. 1University of Alberta, 2Generations

Join us outside of Sŋéqə ʔéʔləŋ (Sngequ House) for a tasty BBQ lunch - Choice of grilled hamburger (GF) or quinoa burger with brioche buns. Potato salad; leaf lettuce, sliced tomato, cheddar cheese slices, onions, Dijon mustard, relish, ketchup and mayo; dessert squares and cookies. Lemonade.

During the lunch break, posters can be set up. Tackboards will not be assigned, as such it will be first come first serve - with enough space for everyone.

Presented by Dr Lucy Selman. Cross-sector partnerships that leverage community assets and involve the public are recommended to tackle inequities towards the end of life and in bereavement, however there is little practical guidance on what this looks like in practice. Since December 2022, we have been working in an underserved coastal town in the southwest of England to explore existing collaboration and social capital and establish and support a community network of over 120 people representing diverse sectors and backgrounds, including local government, voluntary and community sector organisations, health and social care and local residents. In this presentation I will describe our innovative methods and ways of working, findings to date, and what we have learnt along the way.

Advanced care planning for people with cancer in palliative care in Colombia: phenomenological approach. Presented by Mauricio Arias Rojas, Faculty of Nursing, Universidad de Antioquia, Columbia COVID-19 Public Health Restrictions and the Provision of Culturally Sensitive Palliative Care: The Experiences of the Interprofessional Health Care Team. Presented by Robin McClure, University of Manitoba Diverging Perspectives: How Patients and Physicians Understand Barriers to End-of-Life Care. Presented by Emily Schuler, Vanderbilt University Misalignment of care needs and provision: Exploring root causes of racial disparities in palliative care. Allison Kurahashi, Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care, Sinai Health and Dr. Kavita Algu, University of Toronto

Developing a Compassionate University for Serious Illness, Death, and Bereavement: Insights from a Longitudinal Process Evaluation. Presented by Hanne Bakelants, End-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) & Ghent University (UGent), Belgium Starting a Compassionate Community: Exploration of stakeholder experiences mobilizing neighbourhood assets. Presented by Sabet Van Steen, End-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) & Ghent University (UGent), Belgium Measuring the effectiveness of a Compassionate Communities initiative to raise public awareness of palliative care and advance care planning: an evaluation framework. Presented by Mary-Ann Shantz, Covenant Health Palliative Institute

Background: Critical ethnography examines the social, cultural, and structural forces shaping people’s lives, especially within organizational systems. It aims to produce practical knowledge that can support change. One powerful method is participant observation, which allows researchers to engage directly in people’s environments. This approach helps surface how stories, bodies, and contexts intersect—particularly important when working with structurally marginalized communities or those affected by serious illness. Observing lived experiences, rather than relying solely on reported accounts, can reveal nuanced insights into inequity. Workshop Overview: This session will introduce participant observations in contexts of health and social inequity, offering both theoretical grounding and practical skills. We will: Review key concepts like reciprocity, trust, positionality, reflexivity, and power dynamics. Discuss how to engage in respectful, minimally intrusive, and relationally-focused participant observations and fieldnote writing. Compare insights gained from observations versus interviews, with attention to power, relationships, and embodied experiences. Engage in a brief, equity-centered observational activity followed by group reflection and discussion. Hosted by Kris Smith 1, Ashley Mollison 1, Tara Horrill 2, Amber Bourgeois 1, Alexandra Stewart 1, Max Kleijberg 3, Kelli Stajduhar1 1University of Victoria, 2University of Manitoba, 3Karolinska Institutet

End-of-Life Through the Lens of Life Span Development: Meeting common Social-Emotional Needs. Presented by Hana Kodba Ceh, University Clinic of Pulmonary and Allergic Diseases, Golnik, Slovenia Building system capacity for home visits for patients near end of life: A mixed methods study. Presented by Madeline McCoy and Sabah Tasnim, Bruyère Health Research Institute Compassionate, Dementia Inclusive Communities: Innovations in Volunteer Navigation. Presented by Barbara Pesut, University of British Columbia A scoping review of literacy concepts and measures related to palliative and end-of-life care, dying and death and grief. Presented by Michelle Edwards, Cardiff University

Presented by Dr. Sally Thorne. Public health palliative care is a complex practice context in which new knowledge is required that extends beyond theory-building and into generating ideas and insights to inform the work. In this 90-minute workshop, Sally Thorne, the originator of Interpretive Description methodology, will provide an overview of why this particular approach to research exists, how it aligns with the wide range of other available qualitative and quantitative options, and the manner in which it emancipates scholars in the applied and practice disciplines and their community collaborators to make study design choices best suited to generating findings that advance their work.

Presented by Dr. Edward Miech. Looking for an innovative analytic method custom-designed to handle context, complexity and intersectionality? Coincidence Analysis (CNA) is a new cross-case approach to data analysis that applies Boolean algebra and set theory to pinpoint configurations of conditions that link directly to an outcome. This fundamentally different line of analysis, not based on correlation or regression, provides context-aware findings that can yield original and surprising insights into difference-making factors that uniquely distinguish cases with an outcome of interest from those without. CNA can be applied to datasets small or large, can find "bundles" of conditions that together jointly yield an outcome, and can identify multiple distinct pathways leading to the same outcome. The results generated by CNA are also transparent, as solutions can be directly observed and verified by researchers, stakeholders and community partners alike. Given the overlapping nature of the social determinants of health, CNA can be particularly well-suited for analyses involving equity and diversity in both public health and palliative care. Workshop participants will gain hands-on experience with CNA through applied exercises featuring real datasets from prior studies.

Connect with fellow delegates at our lively Welcome Reception. This event provides an excellent opportunity for networking and engaging with emerging scholars as they present their research during the Poster Exhibition. Dinner offers a selection of Greek and green salad, rick pilaf and herb roasted potatoes (GF,V), broccoli with lemon butter (GF), lemon & oregano marinated Mediterranean chicken (GF,DF), red Thai curry with mushrooms, onions & tofu (GF,V).