Canadian Virtual Hospice

Today I clicked on Facebook Ad for "Canadian Virtual Hospice". I was intrigued to see what types of information and services this site might offer and was genuinely impressed by how thorough this site is!

There are three main areas: Topics, Support and For Professionals,

Topics include:
What Is Palliative Care?

• What Is Palliative Care?

Emotional Health

• Talking with Children and Youth about Serious Illness
• Hope and Denial
• Living with Limited Time: Exploring Feelings
• Grief in Times of Celebration: The Empty Spot
• Grief Work

Spiritual Health

• Spirituality and Life-Threatening Illness
• Finding a Spiritual Companion
• Finding Meaning and Purpose during a Health Crisis
• Rituals for Patients and Families
• Rituals to Comfort Families
• Sharing Your Story

Symptoms

• Sorting out Health Concerns
• Confusion
• Constipation
• Dehydration
• Depression
• Fatigue
• Lack of Appetite and Loss of Weight
• Nausea and Vomiting
• Pain
• Shortness of Breath

Providing Care

• Caring for Yourself
• Help with Medications
• Help with Eating
• Care of the Mouth
• Caring for Hair and Face
• Help with Bathing
• Help with Toileting
• Positioning a Person in Bed / Preventing Bed Sores

Visiting

• Tips for Visiting
• What Do I Say?

Decisions

• Health Care Decisions
• Considerations for a Home Death
• Advance Care Planning
• Wills
• Planning a Funeral
• Financial Assistance
• Patient Benefits
• Caregiver and Survivor Benefits

Final Days

• When Death Is Near
• The Moments after a Death

The Support Section allows users to register and join specific discussions with professionals working in palliative care. The professionals involved in the service are listed on the page "Meet the Team" There is a section called "Your Stories" which is an area for people to tell their brief story about grief, death, dying or to thank the professionals involved in their care, One other section is called: "Asked and Answered" which is the FAQ section.

The For Professionals Section allows users to link to ongoing professional development and research links.

I am impressed by the content and layout of this site. It is easy to navigate, they use lay language and I particularly applaud their use of online technology to provide best practice information for professionals, service users and families in a timely way!