Project ECHO Home-Based Palliative Care
All Teach, All Learn
Bridging the Knowledge Gap in Home-Based Palliative Care
Since 2021, the CHCA Project ECHO Home-Based Palliative Care has been delivering evidence-informed content and case studies to tackle the competency challenges faced by providers across the country. Through Virtual ECHO Sessions and our online resource HUB, we breaking down major barriers to high-quality care at home. By engaging home and community care providers and palliative care specialists, we are building the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to meet the needs of patients, their families, and caregivers.
2025 Theme: Compassionate Care in Last Days and Hours
Ensuring comfort, dignity, and respect in a person’s final days and hours is essential to high-quality palliative care. Project ECHO: Home-Based Palliative Care will focus on Domain 6 of the Canadian Interdisciplinary Palliative Care Competency Framework, addressing the critical skills, knowledge, and attitudes required to provide compassionate, person-centred, and holistic end-of-life care at home.
This five-part TeleECHO series will explore key palliative care competencies, including recognizing the signs of approaching death, after-death care, symptom management, and grief and bereavement support for families. Sessions will also focus on collaborative, interdisciplinary care and overcoming barriers to accessible, patient-centred support. Join us as we bridge knowledge gaps and strengthen home-based palliative care through shared learning and expert-led discussions.
Anticipating End of Life: Competencies for Compassionate, Person-Centred Care
September 24, 2025 | 1:00 – 2:00 pm Eastern Time (check local time zone)
Recognize when death is near, how to address symptoms, and communicate with families, all essential elements of compassionate, person-centred end-of-life care that aligns with patient wishes and values.
Teaching Presenter:
Dr. Doris Barwich, Palliative care physician, British Columbia
*This teleECHO session is offered in English. Translated captioning available.
Honouring Lives: Building Competency in Equity, Cultural Humility and Inclusion at End of Life
October 15, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm Eastern Time (check local time zone)
Explore critical considerations for embedding cultural humility, equity, and inclusion in end-of-life care by addressing systemic barriers, and honouring values and wishes to support individualized, respectful care for diverse and marginalized communities.
Teaching Presenter:
Dr. Sarina Isenberg MA PhD (she/her), Bruyère Chair in Mixed Methods Palliative Care Research | Bruyère Research Institute | Assistant Professor University of Ottawa
*This teleECHO session is offered in English. Translated captioning available.
Past TeleECHO Clinics
Holistic Spirituality at End of Life
June 11, 2025
Simon Lasair, explored spirituality as a core aspect of end-of-life care. Emphasizing identity, emotion, and meaning-making, home care teams are encouraged to hold space, listen deeply, and respect diverse beliefs. A case study highlighted challenges when patient and family values diverge, reinforcing the need for compassionate, person-centered approaches in home-based palliative care. TeleECHO Clinic Expert Presentation Slides
Navigating Palliative Emergencies at Home: Helping Families and Patients Be Prepared
March 5, 2025
Dr. Cornelius Woelk MD, discussed anticipating emergent symptoms in final days and hours and preparing individuals and families using the Be Prepared Conversation Guides.
TeleECHO Clinic Expert Presentation Slides Be Prepared Conversation Guides
Continue your learning
The Project ECHO Home and Community Care Learning Hub offers a variety of resources for healthcare providers delivering home- and community-based care. Through the hub, you can access on-demand video and presentations by subject matter experts and resources to support your clinical practices. Project ECHO Home-Based Palliative Care has delivered targeted educational sessions to enhance skills, knowledge and attitudes in palliative care, focusing on:
Collaborative Practice
- Interdisciplinary collaboration
- Family and caregiver inclusion
- A palliative appraoch to care
- Reducing care barriers for vulnerable groups
Emergencies in the Home
- Catastrophic bleeding
- Spinal cord compression
- Dyspnea
- Hypercalcemia
Essential Competencies
- Virtual palliative care
- Communication and serious illness conversations
- Cultural safety and humility
- Self-care and compassion fatigue management
To access the Learning Hub: https://echo.cdnhomecare.ca/
The Palliative Care ECHO Project
The Canadian Home Care Association (CHCA) is pleased to be a hub partner of the Palliative Care ECHO Project. The Palliative Care ECHO Project is a 5-year national initiative to cultivate communities of practice and establish continuous professional development among health care providers across Canada who care for patients with life-limiting illness.
As a hub partner, the CHCA creates ECHO programming that meets the learning and resource needs of the home health care providers. We encourage you to stay connected to the Palliative Care ECHO Project by visiting this page regularly to get the latest updates and by visiting the national Palliative Care ECHO Project webpage for additional opportunities.
The Palliative Care ECHO Project is supported by a financial contribution from Health Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of Health Canada.
This post is also available in: French