CHEPA-led research shows benefits of training emergency responders to treat palliative patients at home

With some extra training, paramedics can provide effective patient-centred care in the homes of people living with cancer and other life-limiting conditions.

An article written by CHEPA Director Jean-Éric Tarride for The Conversation describes how enabling trained paramedics to provide palliative and end-of-life care in the home, when appropriate, saves patients with palliative care needs the time and stress of visits to hospital emergency departments.

The initiative is intended to make patients as comfortable as possible as they spend their last days at home, which is where most Canadians say they’d prefer to die.

The research study that this article draws from (entitled “Paramedics and Palliative Care: Bringing Vital Services to Canadians”) was funded by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and Healthcare Excellence Canada, and includes work done by fellow CHEPA members Michel Grignon, Hsien Seow and Feng Xie.

Read the article in The Conversation HERE.