If you are experiencing difficulties accessing links or photos due to your email settings, please visit our website, cerah.lakeheadu.ca/category/news to view the full E-Blast newsletter. | | Centre for Education and Research on Aging & Health | | |
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day is an annual unified day of action to celebrate and support hospice and palliative care around the world.
WHPCD has been marked every year since 2005. Join us on Saturday, October 10, 2026 to advocate for better hospice and palliative care services around the world.
The theme for 2026 is "Pain Management: An Essential Part of Palliative Care."
Download the WHPCD Toolkit and learn more!
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Honouring Our Children Run 2026
On September 30, members of the CERAH team took part in the Honouring Our Children Run for Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
It was a meaningful opportunity to come together with hundreds of members of the community; to honour residential school Survivors, remember the children who never came home, and reflect on the work of reconciliation that continues today.
For resources to continue your reconciliation journey, click below.
| | 2026 NWO Palliative Care Booster Conference - "The Common Thread: Weaving a Palliative Approach Across Care Settings" | | |
On October 2, CERAH welcomed nearly 150 participants from Northwestern Ontario and beyond for the 2026 NWO Palliative Care Conference Booster.
For over 20 years, the Palliative Care Conference has brought people together to learn from one another, share what is happening in their communities, and strengthen connections across the region. This year continued that tradition, with participants joining us both in person at the Valhalla Hotel and virtually.
The day featured presentations and discussions that reflected the realities of providing palliative care in Northwestern Ontario, including the creative and practical approaches being used to meet the needs of people across rural, remote, and Indigenous communities.
Thank you to our presenters, participants, partners, and everyone who helped make this year's Booster such a success. We look forward to seeing many of you again at the National CERAH Conference, September 28–29, 2027.
| | Caring Connections Chronicles | |
Halloween Health Fair
Join Age Friendly and the TBDHU on Thursday October 29th from 11 AM - 2:30 PM at the
Oliver Road Recreation Centre for the Halloween Health Fair!
| | Light snack will be provided–admission by donation. Registration required by Oct 19 – seniors@agefriendlythunderbay.ca or call 807-633-7723 | |
5 Week Workshop for Caregivers
Are you taking care of a loved one with a life-limiting illness?
Join Hospice Northwest for their FREE 5-week Caregiver Workshop starting October 28th.
Workshop is available in-person or virtually!
Contact Suzanne to register at
807-626-5578 or suzanne@hospicenorthwest.ca
| | | Palliative Care Is...Strengthening approaches to palliative and end-of-life care in homeless and harm reduction settings: launching a discussion-based curriculum | | |
Oct 27, 2026 | 12-1:30PM ET
In this webinar you will hear from community-based researchers, palliative care practitioners, and frontline workers who were part of co-developing this new curriculum. We will show you the curriculum package, share how and why it was developed, give some ideas for how to use it, and have some discussion.
By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Describe how a palliative approach to care can improve quality of life and reduce suffering for people experiencing serious illness in contexts of homelessness, poverty, racism, and other forms of structural inequity.
- Explore how the Palliative Care Is… discussion-based curriculum can be used flexibly to support conversations about serious illness, planning, care, grief, and loss across community and healthcare settings.
- Consider how shared learning across health, palliative care, housing, poverty, racism, outreach, and community services can strengthen collaboration and support more person-centred and equitable care.
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North West Regional Pain & Symptom Management Community of Practice: A Palliative Approach to Pain Management
Oct 28, 2026 | 12:30-2PM ET
Learning Objectives:
- Apply appropriate assessment tools and evidence-based treatment strategies to evaluate and manage different types of pain effectively.
- Demonstrate proficiency in performing medication conversions and applying safe dosing protocols in clinical practice.
- Case Discussion: Review the rationale, risks, and benefits of methadone use in palliative care.
Speakers:
Sherri Henderson, RN CHPCN(c), Palliative Care Telemedicine Consultant, North West Regional Palliative Care Program, St. Joseph's Care Group
Michael Limerick, NP, Palliative Care, Ontario Health atHome
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Shine a Light on Disenfranchised Grief: Supporting Healing After Death by Suicide and Substance Use
with Claudia Otto
November 12 | 12-1:30PM ET
Deaths from suicide and substance use can carry a unique burden—one often compounded by stigma, sudden shock, and complex trauma.
This session explores the distinct realities of traumatic grief and offers practical, compassionate frameworks to support individuals and families through high-impact bereavement. Together, we will discuss evidence-informed approaches to process profound grief with honour, empathy, and hope.
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When addicition changes the way we see pain: Challenging stigma in pain & symptom management with Dr. Amy Montour & Rachel Montour
November 17 | 12-1:30 PM ET
Join us to learn how to use a Two-Eyed Seeing approach to understand and describe how biases, stereotypes, and discrimination can create barriers to pain control for people living with addiction, and identify and analyze opportunities to provide compassionate symptom management for people living with addiction who also require palliative care.
| | For Informal Care Providers | | | | |
Dementia, Your Companion Guides
This educational resource is available to view as a flipbook or to download and print for FREE in multiple languages using the button below.
The printed version is also available to purchase on Amazon.ca for $20 CAD, with all proceeds going to support the McGill Dementia Education Program.
| | For Health & Social Care Providers | |
Northeastern Ontario Palliative Care Conference | March 5, 2027
Excellent Palliative Care: Successful Initiatives and Strategies for the North
Abstract Submissions Now Open!
Abstract Submission Deadline: October 12, 2026
Presentations will be a total of 15 minutes.
You/Your team will have 12 minutes to present and 3 minutes for Q&A. Presentation spots are limited, submissions will be accepted until October 12, 2026 after which the Planning Committee will review all submissions and make their decisions.
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Disrupting Death: Conversations about Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada. Hosts, Kathy Kortes-Miller and Keri-Lyn Durant lead with curiosity as they interview a wide range of guests who know M.A.i.D intimately.
Latest Episode: Disrupting Death with Dying With Dignity
This month, Kathy and Keri-Lyn speak again with the CEO Helen Long and welcome volunteer Simone Martin, both of Dying With Dignity Canada, about story sharing, navigating MAiD experiences, and end-of-life planning.
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Dementia Dialogue often features people living with dementia, their care/life partners, and supporters sharing experiences. Through the interviews, guests demonstrate their capacity to live fully. Other episodes include conversations with researchers and advocates.
Listen to the Podcast Finale (aired September 14, 2026) now!
| | | | | Contact us if you have any questions about our resources or upcoming events. We are also interested in aging and health news from your region, so please keep in touch! | | | | |
