Dr. Maxxine Rattner is a hospice/palliative care clinician and educator. It was her own experiences as a front-line hospice social worker that inspired her to begin researching and writing about non-physical suffering. Her work seeks to create more space within palliative care literature and practice for the harder parts of living with, and dying from, a life-limiting illness. She recently completed her PhD on this topic, entitled, “Disrupting and expanding the discourse: Palliative care clinicians’ experiences with patients’ non-physical suffering”. In this episode, we discuss the challenges in addressing non-physical suffering and the importance of making space within palliative care to do this intrinsically difficult work and approach the work without the expectation of “fixing” a patient’s or family’s suffering. Resource links: Increasing our understanding of nonphysical suffering within palliative care: A scoping review August 2021 Palliative and Supportive Care 20(3):1-16 DOI:10.1017/S1478951521001127 Authors: Maxxine Rattner

Dr. Zhimeng Jia joined the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care in Toronto as a clinician-investigator in September of 2021. Prior to joining the Toronto Palliative Care community, Dr. Jia completed his Family Medicine residency and Palliative Care clinical fellowship at the University of Alberta, and a research fellowship at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Through a combination of personal and clinical experiences, Dr. Jia developed an interest in health inequities that Asian immigrants experience at the end-of-life. He refined these academic interests into a formal research program during his research fellowship in Boston. Now, he leads several institutionally, nationally, and internationally funded initiatives to understand the model of palliative care delivery among Asian Canadians, linguistic and paralinguistic elements of intercultural palliative care communication, and culturally-tailored palliative care training in Asia.

Dr. David Lysecki is the Founder and Medical Director of the Quality of Life & Advanced Care Program at McMaster Children's Hospital. Under his leadership the program has grown over the course of 7 years and the team’s ultimate goal is to establish a pediatric hospice in Hamilton. They are successfully moving this vision forward, having facilitated a partnership between Hamilton Health Sciences and the Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice Organization. He is the Division Head and an Associate Professor in the Division of Pediatric Palliative Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University. He has dual training in both pediatric oncology and palliative care. In this episode, Dr. Lysecki discusses his experience working in pediatric palliative care, and how he navigates both the rewards and challenges of working in this area. We also discuss how we can ensure that palliative care and pediatric palliative care become the work of all health care providers. Resource links: Dr. Lysecki and his team are raising funds to build a pediatric hospice to support the McMaster Children's Hospital and its catchment area. To learn more or to support their work visit: https://keatonshouse.org/ Children Need Hospice Care Too: https://www.thespec.com/opinion/contributors/2020/10/13/children-need-hospice-palliative-care-too.html?rf https://www.hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/share/more-than-a-village/ https://www.thespec.com/local-dundas/news/2023/01/24/dundas-vacant-city-property-reviewed-for-children-s-hospice.html

Shortly after Mishi Methven and her partner Aimee’s daughter Stella turned two, they were given the devastating news that Stella only had months to live. In this episode, Mishi shares how they navigated Stella’s diagnosis of a fatal brain tumour - Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma - guided by the philosophy of finding joy in the everyday.

Julie Vizza was born with a multifaceted genetic condition, beta thalassemia-major. She joins the podcast today to discuss her journey in the healthcare system and how these experiences have inspired her work as a patient advocate; providing a voice for those with complex health care needs with an aim to improve the system for all.

In this episode, Billy Bridges shares his inspiring ideas for addressing Ableism with empathy and offers a rallying cry for disability advocacy. Billy Bridges is an extraordinary Canadian athlete who has represented his country in six Paralympic Games, winning gold (2006), bronze (2014, 2018), and silver (2022) medals. He's also a four-time World Champion, including two Championship MVP awards, and was the youngest recruit to the Canadian sledge hockey team at 14 years old. But that's not all - Billy is also an accomplished athlete in wheelchair basketball and tennis, a motivational speaker, mentor, and ambassador for para sports. Born in PEI, he spent most of his youth in Ontario due to his medical needs for Spina Bifida.

At the young age of 18, Serena Tejpar was injured in a car collision as a backseat passenger that left her in critical condition with almost no chance of survival. Today, as a medical student and author, Serena reflects on how her experience with serious injury and recovery drives her to live a life of purpose and of service to others and ensure that patients are provided compassionate care that will lead to positive health outcomes and experiences.

In 2022, Brian Smith’s life was profoundly changed by a diagnosis of metastatic cancer. In this episode, Brian shares his experiences of living with cancer, the supports he relied on to get him through a challenging series of treatments and how his cancer seemingly expanded his life’s horizons.

Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov is a distinguished professor of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and Senior Scientist, CancerCare Manitoba Research Institute. He is well known for many accomplishments including leading the research team that pioneered the Dignity Model and Dignity Therapy. He won the Prose award for his 2011 book - Dignity Therapy: Final Words for Final Days and he’s just published his new book: Dignity in Care - The Human Side of Medicine. He’s also the co-founder of the Canadian Virtual Hospice, the world’s largest repository of web-based information and support for dying patients, their families and healthcare providers.

Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov is a distinguished professor of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and Senior Scientist, CancerCare Manitoba Research Institute. He is well known for many accomplishments including leading the research team that pioneered the Dignity Model and Dignity Therapy. He won the Prose award for his 2011 book - Dignity Therapy: Final Words for Final Days and he’s just published his new book: Dignity in Care - The Human Side of Medicine. He’s also the co-founder of the Canadian Virtual Hospice, the world’s largest repository of web-based information and support for dying patients, their families and healthcare providers.

Anat Baron is a Los Angeles based tech founder and professional speaker. She's had an eclectic career as an executive and entrepreneur in Hospitality, Hollywood and the Beer industry (even though she is allergic to alcohol). She received her BA from the University of British Columbia and Masters degree from Cornell University. In this episode, Anat shares her story of supporting her mother through a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer while living on the other side of the continent in the midst of a global pandemic.  Anat reflects on the advantages and drawbacks of virtual care when trying to establish a relationship with the health care team and advocating for person-centered care.

Mitchell Consky is a Toronto- based journalist. His work has been published in the Globe and Mail, CTV News and other international news outlets. Mitch has written and published a book entitled Home Safe: A Memoir Of End-of-life Care During Covid-19. This work is centered around his father, Harvey Consky, a Toronto based lawyer and beloved family man. Through his book, Mitch helped preserve his father’s legacy in writing. A portion of Mitch’s author royalties will be donated to cancer research at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.  In this episode, Mitch tells us about who his father Harvey was as a person and how his experience with cancer impacted their whole family. Mitch also shares the ups and downs, the joys and the struggles, of providing palliative care for his father at home during the pandemic. Legacy Building Activities, Hospice Waterloo: https://www.hospicewaterloo.ca/legacy-activities/

Kiersty Hong is a spiritual care practitioner at Sunnybrook. She often finds herself clarifying the role she plays on the health care team to other hospital staff and patients. Kiersty provides emotional support to any patient – regardless of their faith community or agnostic or atheist beliefs. Kiersty is here to tell us more about her work, so we can better make spiritual care a part of the interprofessional healthcare team.

Advance care planning is a process by which individuals express their healthcare preferences, values and priorities for the future. Through Advance Care Planning, individuals may identify a legally appointed Substitute decision maker. A substitute decision maker, or SDM, acts on behalf of someone when they are no longer able to make decisions for themselves. The SDMs role is to make decisions that are aligned with that individual’s previously expressed wishes. In Ontario, when a patient legally appoints a SDM this is called a Power of Attorney for personal care.

The journey to sobriety took many detours for Patrick. What he originally chalked up to experimentation with drugs and alcohol, became a regular occurence. Crystal meth binges would end with a realization that Patrick was slowly losing himself. In these moments of clarity, he would reach out for help. Starting with psychiatric care, then to a harm reduction program and finally to a recovery program.

In her 20 years of experience as a trauma surgeon, Dr Najma Ahmed has seen an increasing number of gun violence incidents. The organization she co-founded, Canadian Doctors for Protection from Gun Violence, is centering gun violence as a public health issue. The organization’s work in research and policy has helped to pass laws increasing background checks for the transfer and sale of firearms, along with establishing an assault rifle ban. For her advocacy work, Dr. Ahmed has been awarded the 2020 Sir Charles Tupper Award for Political Advocacy from the Canadian Medical Association.

In Season 2, we spoke to Andrea Warnick, a registered psychotherapist and educator on the topic of grief in children. This season we wanted to share the story of the Gerardi family. Throughout her 3 years of cancer treatments, Kasia remained open and honest with her four daughters. When Kasia learned that her cancer had metastasized to her brain and that the end of her life was near, she and her husband Ricardo worked together to make family life memorable and prepare for her death. Kasia died in December 2019. Ricardo is here today to tell us about what grief has looked like for him and for his daughters.

Dr Janet Ellis is a medical psychiatrist who has extensively studied physician trauma and promoted physician wellness. From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Janet committed to supporting other health care professionals – instituting mental health screening protocols, offering psychosocial support and collecting research data. She is here to share her insights with us today – how the landscape is evolving and how we can care for ourselves and our colleagues.

Over the last year, the impact of systemic racism in healthcare has come into sharper focus. From racialized populations being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, to the cruel and senseless death of Joyce Echaquan in a Quebec hospital, it is more important than ever to look inwards at our own racial biases and at the widespread inequity that exists in the health care system.  Dr Lisa Richardson is the Strategic Lead in Indigenous Health at Women’s College Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Dr. Richardson is also the Vice-Chair, Culture & Inclusion at the Department of Medicine. She is working to advance inclusion, equity and wellness through her work with students, faculty and staff across U of T.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit everyone hard, but those living in long-term care facilities have faced unprecedented circumstances. Long-term care residents were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 in terms of illness and death. As cases multiplied, residents were isolated from the outside world.