Palliative Care Project
Enhancing End-of-Life Care in New Brunswick: An inter-disciplinary approach
New Brunswick is currently facing significant healthcare challenges due to an aging population and increasing numbers of people with complex health needs. Improving access to care at home is vital not only to the quality of life for these patients, but also to the sustainability of our healthcare system and a shift away from acute care provided in hospitals towards primary care in communities.
According to the NB Health Council, our province has the highest rate of in-hospital deaths in Canada, with 80 per cent of end-stage cancer patients being admitted to hospital for the last two weeks of their life. The majority of Canadians would prefer to die at home. Because location of death is considered to be a strong indicator of quality of care, the focus of this project is to provide Ambulance New Brunswick (ANB) paramedics with training enabling them to support Extra-Mural Program (EMP) palliative care patients in fulfilling their choices.
Under the current system, ANB paramedics respond to 911 calls from palliative patients and typically transport them to hospital. This innovative and inter-disciplinary solution will provide ANB paramedics with the knowledge and skills to provide palliative care at home, as well as a mechanism to collaborate with EMP practitioners in the seamless delivery of person-centric care. While this level of patient care integration between EMP and ANB will break new ground, its success will be realized in that providers within both areas consistently place patient and family needs first and foremost.
