Hospice palliative care in Alberta
Hospice palliative care has its roots in Alberta from community
initiatives often named Palliative Care Councils or Palliative
Care Societies. Within these initiatives, many citizens raise
money for implementing palliative care rooms within their community
hospitals or purchasing equipments (e.g., beds and patient controlled
analgesia devices) contributing to a more comfortable death for
their loved ones. In addition to these tremendous community efforts,
key developments have fashioned the hospice palliative care landscape
in Alberta.
Key milestones
The Palliative Care Association of Alberta, a provincial affiliate
of the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association, was incorporated
in 1990 to advocate for equitable and accessible hospice palliative
care programs or services in the province. Currently, the organization
has a membership of over 200 health care professionals from across
the province with multidisciplinary representation.
|
Year
|
Accomplishment
|
|
2000
|
|
|
1999
|
|
|
1998
|
ACB Palliative Care Network Initiative
|
|
1995-96
|
Tertiary programs in Edmonton and Calgary
|
|
1994
|
Seventeen RHAs assume the mandate to provide
care within their regions.
|
|
1993
|
Alberta Health Palliative Care Policy
Framework
|
| 1990 |
Palliative Care Association of Alberta
|
In 1993, Alberta Health released Palliative
care: A policy framework, which acknowledged the need
for a coordinated continuum of care and support services for palliative
patients and their families. It indicated that palliative care
should be provided according to the resources available within
the health care system. In 1994, with the beginning of the regionalization
process, each regional health authority was mandated to determine
the needs for hospice palliative care in its region. Consistent
with the provincial policy framework, Alberta Health and Wellness
committed to give funding priority to enhancing community-based
palliative care services that allow the individual to be cared
for at home. This is aligned with the Coordinated Home Care Program
Regulation (amended in 1991), which exempts palliative care clients
from the $3,000.00 limit for home care services. Priority was
also given to improving the coordination of programs and services.
In 1995 and 1996, the tertiary palliative care programs in Edmonton
and Calgary were established, followed by the development of other
regional palliative care programs and services in the Chinook,
David Thompson, East Central and Lakeland regional health authorities.
In 1998, ACB implemented the Palliative Care Network Initiative,
renamed the Hospice Palliative Care Network in 2003.
In 1999, the provincial government adopted the Alberta
Palliative Care Drug Program. The program requires the patient
to pay 30 per cent of the cost, to a maximum of $25.00, for each
eligible palliative drug prescribed. When the patient has paid
$1,000.00 towards the cost of eligible prescription drugs, Alberta
Health and Wellness will cover 100 per cent of further eligible
costs. The program defines palliative patients as follows:
"Palliative refers to patients who have been diagnosed by
a physician as being in the end stage of a terminal illness or
disease, are aware of their diagnosis and have made a voluntary
informed decision related to resuscitation, and for whom the focus
of care is palliation and not treatment aimed at a cure."
In the year 2000, ACB established the Palliative
Care Research Initiative, funded by the Alberta Cancer Foundation.
On August 1, 2003, the Nursing Homes Operation Regulation was
amended to reflect new long-term care accommodation charges. A
section was also added to the regulation stating that "if
a resident is admitted to a nursing home for the purpose of receiving
palliative care or sub-acute care, the operator shall not charge
that resident an accommodation charge."
• What is hospice palliative
care?
• How
to develop a hospice palliative care program
• Current activities
of the Hospice Palliative Care Network
• Hospice palliative
care resources
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