Health care near the end of life

My niece (who is currently working on her PhD at Simon Fraser University) has recently coauthored a study on the little known Compassionate Care Benefit, which is available through EI, for those who are caregivers to someone nearing the end of life. I hope to post the study here in the near future.

But unti then, here are some of the key findings (perhaps not unsurprisingly):

• many Canadians are unaware that such a program exists;
• the application forms are unnecessarily complicated and the approval process is long and drawn out;
• the maximum benefit period is woefully inadequate: only six weeks (with a waiting time of two weeks before the benefit is available);
• the benefit period does not allow for a period of mourning;
• applicants are almost always unsure of when to begin their benefit period (due to the real difficulty in predicting the precise time of death of the one being cared for);
• the financial amount of the benefit is similarly inadequate at a maximum of only $447.00 per week.

Interviews and focus groups were conducted with all stakeholders - caregivers, front line palliative care workers, and HR personnel who would need to approve the 6 weeks time off for the caregiver. They were unanimous in their recommendations for improving the program.

This CCB program has the potential to become useful to many families as they cope with the imminent death of a loved one. And since the care is often provided at home it means huge savings for the health care system. Again, it is up to all of us to pressure government to improve programs such as this so that they become actually meaningful.
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My niece, Melissa Giesbrecht, has kindly consented to the posting of the study. Here is the link to view the entire study in both French and English:

Evaluating Canada's Compassionate Care Benefit (English)
(French Version) Authors: Allison Williams, Valorie A. Crooks, Melissa Giesbrecht, Sarah Dykeman.

You can also get more information here:
Family Caregiving for People at End of Life

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