Strengthening a Palliative Approach in Long-Term Care

Epizode

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  The Golden Villages: reconnecting people with dementia to nature and community 14.07.2026 17min

  The Golden Villages is a proposed rural, land-based dementia care community located in Mount Pleasant, Ontario. Rooted in agriculture, environmental stewardship, and dignity-centred care, the project is exploring a new model of aging that reconnects people living with dementia to nature, meaningful daily activity, and community. We spoke with Larissa Stadnichuk, a farmer, stuntwoman, stunt coordinator, and founder of The Golden Villages. After watching someone she loved live with dementia, an...
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  Person-directed living: honouring each person's lifestyle needs and preferences 14.07.2026 21min

  Riverview Health Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba is a vibrant, innovative, and inclusive community providing long-term care, palliative care, and neurological rehabilitation services through inpatient, outpatient, and outreach programs. We had a conversation with Kathleen Klassen, the Chief Executive Officer at Riverview. In this role, Kathleen is leading an organizational culture transformation towards person-directed living, a relationship-based, individualized approach where each person...
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  Understanding the many aspects of frailty: a conversation with Dr. Zahra Goodarzi 08.02.2026 18min

  "When we did work talking to patients and care partners and providers, a lot of patients and care partners weren't aware of frailty as an idea or concept. But once it was explained to them, they felt much better and understood what was happening. We all seek understanding and explanation in some way, and I think that can really help people really understand what's happening to their loved one, but also understand what's happening to themselves." Doctor Zahra Goodarzi is an academic geri...
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  Cultural safety and palliative care: a conversation with the North West Palliative Care Group 27.01.2026 21min

  "When we are talking about culturally safe care, it's really having that background, that trauma-informed care approach. And that's for any person, it's not Indigenous-specific. To make it Indigenous-specific is to understand that Indigenous people in Canada have had a very different history. Every single Indigenous person that you have met or spoken to in Canada has been affected by the residential school system, as the last one closed in 1996. It's a reflective practice .... looking at our ...
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  Caring for and learning from our elders: a conversation with Renate Goodstriker 05.01.2026 18min

  "There's a lot of love and respect for our elders, but for ourselves too, as individuals. Generosity and humbleness and the teaching from our elders. I really like to look at them as our teachers in the way we care for people and how we treat people. It's a part of my drive to make sure that our elders are cared for in the best way." Renate Goodstriker is a proud Blackfoot First Nations woman and a registered nurse who manages a licensed long-term care home for the Blood Tribe Departmen...
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  Dementia Widow: a conversation with author Fay Martin about Green Care Farms and how we care for those with dementia 11.11.2025 13min

  "One Green Care home that I just loved was kind of messy and untidy. You had the feeling that life was happening all around you, and it was busy enough that not everybody could tidy up entirely ... a little bit of what we did yesterday, reminding us today of what we did yesterday, which actually with dementia is a very good idea. And the woman who had initiated it identified that the culture had three elements to it: One was 'do with, not for'. Two was 'joy and purpose every day'. And t...
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  Stories in Motion: a conversation with Expressive Arts Practitioner Fay Wilkinson 10.11.2025 17min

  "Stories in Motion are a way to give the unspoken a voice. Because so often with the people I'm working with, they've not had that voice...but if we can put it into a story, if we can put it into a world where anything can happen and people can say anything, then those unspoken thoughts, feelings get transposed and transformed into something for the person who creates, and for the person who receives it." Learn more about Stories in Motion: https://www.thecreativecocoon.com/ As a registered e...
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  Living and dying with dignity, choice and compassion: a conversation with End-of-Life Doula Jennifer Mallmes 24.09.2025 19min

  "If I had one wish of what the healthcare system knew about end of life doulas, it would be that if you embed end of life doulas into your healthcare settings, not as healthcare professionals, but as social emotional supports that their job would be a lot easier. People would be aware of advanced care plans, and people would be aware of actually just thinking through what they want. Families would be more educated, so families would be calmer and more understanding, and they would know what t...
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  Be bold, be different: a conversation with Elroy Jespersen about The Village Langley 16.09.2025 22min

  "There are people who are saying we can't continue to do what we've always done. Don't tinker around the edges and make things a little bit better in the same old template that you've always had. Get rid of that. Change it radically, be bold, move forward." Elroy Jespersen envisioned a different type of community where people living with dementia could live their own best life. His vision has resulted in The Village Langley, a groundbreaking community designed for people living wi...
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  Creating a home in long-term care: a conversation with architects Neda Basharat and Tony Ross 02.09.2025 18min

  How does architectural design impact the quality of life for residents in long-term care? And how does design influence a palliative approach to care? We spoke with two architects at Montgomery Sisam Architects who have a particular passion for thoughtful design in long-term care. Neda Basharat has been focused on creating home-like environments for seniors within the long-term care sector for over a decade. Her recent work explores innovative models in long-term care, which supports and prom...
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  Creating meaningful spaces and experiences: a conversation with Laurel Pizarro and Helen Stoakes of Grand View Manor 07.04.2025 16min

  "It's about looking at the finer things... preferences in their meals, and giving families special spaces to be together with their loved ones in those final moments ... ensuring we meet the needs of each individual resident." Grand View Manor is a long-term care and assisted living facility located in Berwick, in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley. Laurel Pizarro is a registered nurse and the Director of Care at Grand View Manor with over 10 years experience in geriatric care a...
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  What is delirium? A conversation with members of SPA-LTC's Partner Working Group 06.04.2025 16min

  "It's kind of an altered state of consciousness where they are just not themselves. Dealing with my dad, sometimes it comes across as delusions and paranoia, it's this otherness, it is not him. It's a body response or a mind's response to these things that they can't handle." - Marlene Moorman Delirium is frightening for both the affected person and their loved ones. It can be caused by many factors and is often characterized by confusion and behavioural changes. We spoke about delirium and d...
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  Music Therapy in Palliative Care: a conversation with Sheila Killoran 18.03.2025 19min

  "There's kind of a magical quality with music, a healing or a support really that comes from the music. As long as people have been around, we have been making music and it really does connect with us on an emotional level." - Sheila Killoran Sheila Killoran is the Education Lead for the Covenant Health Palliative Institute. She is a certified music therapist and holds a Master's in Creative Arts Therapies with an interest in guided imagery and grief. Sheila teaches at the University of Alber...
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  Equine therapy in long-term care: a conversation with Jennifer Semach 04.12.2024 15min

  "Sometimes people can really shut down and the horses can get in there and reach in and welcome them back to being present. The horses are gifted. It's all them." Jennifer Semach is the founding Executive Director and program facilitator of Walkabout Farm Therapeutic Riding Association, a charitable organization in Minden, Ontario that offers free mental and physical health services on 100 acres of land with the help of therapeutic support animals: horses, cats, and rabbits. She also brings ...
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  Caring for a partner with dementia: a conversation with Fay Martin 10.11.2024 16min

  "You don't know what's going wrong. And you have all these theories, but it's a long time before dementia is one of the hypotheses..." Fay Martin is a retired social worker who lives in Haliburton County, a small rural community in Ontario. She cared for her husband, who had dementia, until his death in 2022. He died with - but not of - dementia, sparing them the ravages of the later stages of that disease. Nevertheless, it knocked their lives sideways. Learn more about the Strengtheni...
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  Person-centered care and the role of the Social Worker in Long-Term Care: a conversation with Kristen Lew-Byrne 21.08.2024 13min

  What is person-centered care and how does it contribute to a 'good' death? We spoke with Kristen Lew-Byrne, a registered social worker who talked to us about patient-centered care, and how social workers work with team members, residents and families to help achieve a good death means for each individual. Kristen Lew-Byrne is a registered social worker who has worked alongside and supported residents and their families within long-term care for 11 years. She works from a holistic pers...
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  The Nurse Practitioner's role in palliative care: a conversation with NP Jennifer Burgess 14.04.2024 17min

  "Nurse Practitioners are well positioned to help residents and families navigate their life limiting illness. We have the knowledge and skillset to provide their primary medical care, their maintenance therapies, and the treatment of chronic illness flareups. I think the value add is that we can also integrate this approach and philosophy throughout the continuum of care." Nurse Practitioners play a significant role in long-term care, but many homes do not have one on the team. We spoke with...
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  Pre-Printed Orders and decision-making in palliative care: a conversation with LPN Sarah Murphy 03.04.2024 13min

  "I think a lot of people, when you say the word palliative, they think the end of life is imminent. And that's not the case at all. These are conversations that should be starting to happen on move in or even before move-in." Sarah Murphy is a licensed practical nurse and the assistant director of care at The Hamlet's long-term care community in Vernon, British Columbia. She has been working long-term care for eight years and has served as a Care Service Lead, Care Coordinator, and no...
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  Tools for for transitions in end-of-life care: a podcast with Registered Nurse Ryan Collins 02.02.2024 14min

  How do we support the elderly and their loved ones as they transition through the phases of end of life? Registered Nurse Ryan Collins talks with us about how the Palliative Performance Scale tool and courses through the SPA-LTC program have helped him adapt care strategies for long-term care residents to ensure that they get the care that's right for them. Ryan Collins is a registered nurse and palliative care champion at a long-term care facility in St. John, New Brunswick. Along with a Ba...
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  Order sets for improving palliative care: a conversation with palliative care physician Dr. Melanie Leger 23.10.2023 13min

  Dr. Melanie Leger is a palliative care physician in Moncton, New Brunswick. She recently developed standardized templates for order sets in palliative, to help guide community and long-term care health professionals as they review and update palliative protocols. The templates also increase efficiency by adding medication quantities and refill orders that can double as a prescription. "Some of our nursing homes had order sets, but some didn't. This project made me realize that some of these ...