7:00 AM
7:45 AM
Research Forum 1: Expanding Therapeutic Options for Distress in Advanced Illness
8:50 AM
Plenary: Merryn Gott & J. Nicholas Dionne-Odom
10:30 AM
Break in Exhibit Hall
Posters
11:00 AM
Clinical Management Panel
Nursing Paper Session 1
Paper Session: MAiD and End-of-Life Decision-Making
Paper Session: PC Education & Training
Pediatric Palliative Care 1: Grief, Bereavement & Perinatal/Neonatal Loss
Pharmacotherapy 1: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Reassessing and Deprescribing Medication Regimens in Serious Illness
Workshop 1: Poetic Medicine for the Wounded Healer: Tending to Our Shared Humanity in Palliative Care
Workshop 2: Beyond Numbers or Narratives: Why and How to Use Mixed Methods in Palliative Care Research
12:30 PM
Innovation Challenge 2026
Lunch and Exhibit
2:00 PM
Nursing Paper Session 2
Panel : Assessing the Benefit of Specialist Palliative Care in Oncology: Re-thinking Clinical Trial Design
Paper Session 3: Interprofessional Practice & Team-Based Care
Paper Session 4: Advance Care Planning & Patient-Centred Communication
Pediatric Palliative Care Session 2: Uncertainty, Culture & End-of-Life Communication
Pharmacology 2: 360 degrees on Ketamine--All the Knowledge on All the Routes - conversations with an Anesthetist, a Psychiatrist, a Pharmacist, and a Palliative Care Physician
Workshop 3: Palliative Care and M-AiD at the Intersection of Psychiatry and Addiction: A Collaborative Approach
Workshop 4: Integrating Palliative Care and Emergency Medical Services: Global Frameworks for Out-of-Hospital Practice
3:30 PM
Break in Exhibit Hall
4:00 PM
Island of Listeners
Panel: Emerging Challenges and Innovations in Palliative Care
Paper Session 5: Community-Based & Home Palliative Care
Paper Session 6: Clinical Sub-Specialties & Disease-Specific Care
Pediatric Palliative Care Session 3: Education, Training, and Partnership in Practice
Workshop 5: Sowing and Growing SEEDS for Interprofessional Equity in Palliative Care Teams
Workshop 6: Hyperalgésie Induite par les Opiacés - Discussion de Cas
5:30 PM
The Palliative Story Exchange: An Innovative Storytelling Intervention to Build Community, Foster Shared Meaning, and Improve Sustainability
Learning Objectives 1. Recognize how storytelling and narrative interventions foster meaning making and cultivate sustainability among palliative care professionals.2. Participate in a live, in-person storytelling event focusing on authentic vulnerability, deep listening, and interprofessional connection
5:40 PM
Memorial Service
5:45 PM
Rapid-Fire Poster Challenge
6:15 PM
Claire's concert
EN : Born in Paris, cellist Claire Oppert holds degrees in cello from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, in philosophy from Sorbonne University (Paris IV), and in art therapy from the Faculty of Medicine in Tours. In addition to her international musical career and her work as an educator: Claire Oppert is a cello professor at the Musica Mundi School in Waterloo; for the past 30 years, she has been working with young people with autism, individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, and in several palliative care units, notably at Sainte-Périne Hospital, the Jeanne Garnier Medical Center in Paris, and the Rives de Seine Hospital Center in Puteaux. Her research into the connections between art and care regularly leads her to give lectures and present her clinical research at numerous medical conferences in France and around the world. Recognized and acclaimed by the scientific community, her medical protocol, “Le Pansement Schubert,” alleviates patients’ pain and anxiety. Her book Le pansement Schubert, published by Éditions Denoël in 2020 and already translated into many languages, has been widely acclaimed in the French and international media and press. In 2021, it received the Musicians’ Literary Prize. FR : Née à Paris, la violoncelliste Claire Oppert est diplômée du Conservatoire Tchaïkovski de Moscou en violoncelle, de l’université La Sorbonne Paris IV en philosophie et de la Faculté de médecine de Tours en art-thérapie. Parallèlement à sa carrière musicale internationale et à son engagement de pédagogue : Claire Oppert est professeure de violoncelle à la Musica Mundi School à Waterloo, elle intervient depuis 30 ans auprès de jeunes autistes, de personnes atteintes de la maladie d’Alzheimer ainsi que dans plusieurs Unités de soins palliatifs notamment à l’hôpital Sainte-Périne, à la Maison médicale Jeanne Garnier à Paris et au Centre hospitalier Rives de Seine à Puteaux. Ses recherches autour des liens entre l’Art et le soin la mènent régulièrement à donner des conférences et à présenter ses travaux de recherche clinique dans de nombreux congrès de médecine en France et dans le monde. Reconnu et salué par le monde scientifique, son protocole médical, Le Pansement Schubert, soulage la douleur et l’anxiété des patients. Son livre Le pansement Schubert paru aux Éditions Denoël en 2020, déjà traduit dans de nombreuses langues, connaît un large succès dans les médias et la presse française et internationale. Il a reçu en 2021 le Prix Littéraire des Musiciens.