Evidence Network

Why you should start talking to your family and friends about your end-of-life wishes

Many people have been faced with having to make critical decisions for family and friends who were at the end of their lives. This can create a great deal of stress and burden as family members try to navigate the social and health care systems and succumb to their own impending loss and grief. A […]

Why Canadians need to be having end-of-life conversations

Canadians likely had many important conversations with their loved ones over the holidays, but probably most didn’t talk about what should happen in the event they could no longer speak or make medical decisions for themselves.

Why patients at the end of life may not be receiving the best care

Our healthcare system remains focused on acute – emergency — care and the “therapeutic imperative” to fix everything we can fix when a patient is ill. But when someone is approaching the end of life, this approach may no longer be what the patient and their families need or want most.

Is it time to allow assisted suicide?

This week, the Supreme Court of Canada has been hearing an appeal by the BC Civil Liberties Association that could grant terminally ill Canadians the right to assisted suicide. With this impending ruling and the passing of Bill 52 in Quebec (Medical Aid in Dying) and rumblings from parliament of another private members bill on assisted suicide, Canada is at a crossroads.