PDCF’s 2023 Vital Signs Report revealed that there is no permanently-funded palliative care program or hospice in the Perth area. The demographics of Perth and District show that such a program is desperately needed.

In response to this information, PDCF co-hosted and facilitated a Vital Conversation with The Hospice Hub on April 20th. Over 80 people came out to learn more and talk together about a way forward at “Dying in Lanark: A Community Conversation.”

“We held this event to let people know that the need for hospice care exists, and to build a base of volunteers who want to help to make change,” said Anne Janssen, who began working on hospice care in Lanark after the death of her sister 6 years ago.

Jansen, and a small group of volunteers founded The Hospice Hub, an incorporated non-profit, this Spring. The group then established the Hospice Hub Fund with PDCF which you can donate to via our website or with a cheque sent to PDCF (memo: The Hospice Hub.) If you are donating through our website, be sure to choose the Hospice Hub Fund from the scroll down menu. You will receive a tax receipt.

According to Janssen, our area has challenges. We are in a very large, mostly rural area that is split among different health teams and located between Ottawa and Kingston. It has been a struggle to get hospice palliative care services implemented. Most people want to die at home; to do this they require specialised support.

Janet Douglass, a long-time hospice palliative care nurse and board member of Hospice Hub gave an overview of what exactly hospice care is and who it will serve. Hospice care is holistic care at the end of life and through bereavement; care that will increase quality of life and reduce suffering.

After a presentation about The Hospice Hub, participants at the event met in small groups to discuss the elements of comprehensive hospice care: Education, Awareness, Visiting Hospice Services, Caregiver Support, Day Hospice, Advocacy, Grief and Bereavement, and Hospice beds for End of Life.

The Hospice Hub aims to be a community-led initiative providing comprehensive, compassionate, and integrated services (including bereavement) to assist those at end of life and their families and caregivers. It is meant for people facing a progressive, life-limiting illness with a prognosis of 6 months or less to live.
The work of The Hospice Hub is growing and developing and it is sure to make a difference in the quality of living and dying for people our community for years to come.