Today I clicked on Facebook Ad for “Canadian Virtual Hospice”. I was intrigued to see what types of information and services this site might offer and was genuinely impressed by how thorough this site is!
There are three main areas: Topics, Support and For Professionals,
Topics include:
What Is Palliative Care?
What Is Palliative Care?
- What Is Palliative Care?
- Talking with Children and Youth about Serious Illness
- Hope and Denial
- Living with Limited Time: Exploring Feelings
- Grief in Times of Celebration: The Empty Spot
- Grief Work
- Spirituality and Life-Threatening Illness
- Finding a Spiritual Companion
- Finding Meaning and Purpose during a Health Crisis
- Rituals for Patients and Families
- Rituals to Comfort Families
- Sharing Your Story
- Sorting out Health Concerns
- Confusion
- Constipation
- Dehydration
- Depression
- Fatigue
- Lack of Appetite and Loss of Weight
- Nausea and Vomiting
- Pain
- Shortness of Breath
- Caring for Yourself
- Help with Medications
- Help with Eating
- Care of the Mouth
- Caring for Hair and Face
- Help with Bathing
- Help with Toileting
- Positioning a Person in Bed / Preventing Bed Sores
- Tips for Visiting
- What Do I Say?
- Health Care Decisions
- Considerations for a Home Death
- Advance Care Planning
- Wills
- Planning a Funeral
- Financial Assistance
- Patient Benefits
- Caregiver and Survivor Benefits
- When Death Is Near
- The Moments after a Death
The Support Section allows users to register and join specific discussions with professionals working in palliative care. The professionals involved in the service are listed on the page “Meet the Team” There is a section called “Your Stories” which is an area for people to tell their brief story about grief, death, dying or to thank the professionals involved in their care, One other section is called: “Asked and Answered” which is the FAQ section.
The For Professionals Section allows users to link to ongoing professional development and research links.
I am impressed by the content and layout of this site. It is easy to navigate, they use lay language and I particularly applaud their use of online technology to provide best practice information for professionals, service users and families in a timely way!
Anita Hamilton ~ VirtualOT 
I agree that virtualhospice.ca is a gem that more OTs and patients should discover! One of the best features is Ask A Professional, which allows Canadians to send personal questions to a whole team of palliative care experts. The teams sends back personal answers within 3 business days…and everything is handled in a completely CONFIDENTIAL way. That feature is unique in the world!
Hi Gail, glad you found my new post! I'd be interested to know about other services you access online or refer people to?Cheers, Anita
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Hmm… that's weird. My comment has been deleted. Ok, trying again…Hi Anita, Thanks for posting this link. I've found it very interesting to look around. I don't think we have anything similar in the UK. I agree with Gail that the 'Ask A Professional' feature is an excellent resource, and I wonder how it is funded. I see it's only available to Canadians… one can imagine it being potentially resource-intensive. Although, probably, what they do is signpost people to their local services. I've come across Mike Harlos' work before, and always find him very impressive. At a slight tangent – are you in touch with any OTs in Canada who work in palliative care? I have been asked to lead a project, and would like to make some contacts, but would not know where to start. Any ideas would be welcome – either of individuals, or palliative care / rehabilitation centres.bwGail.
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