Since 2017, Marathon Family Health Team has been working on improving local palliative care services to support our patients and their families who have chosen a palliative approach to care. With the help of collaborative community partners, our Palliative Care/End of Life Care committee has focused on:
- improving coordination and communication amongst providers to ensure an integrated system of care for all patients and families;
- identifying local gaps, barriers, and challenges related to the provision of high quality palliative care and to identify solutions to improve the quality of care;
- educating and raising awareness amongst providers, patients, families, caregivers, and the community we serve about the benefits of a palliative approach to care and the importance of discussing death and dying; and
- facilitating more deaths in the community/in the home when that is what the patient wishes.
Current palliative care services involve the palliative care team reaching out to contact the patient/patient’s family after a palliative diagnosis is received to begin a palliative approach to care for the patient. To help educate patients and their loved ones, the Marathon Family Health Team and partners developed a palliative care resource binder for individuals and families.
See below for a digital version of the palliative care resource binder.