“The domains are perfect. I really appreciate the cultural safety and humility domain. A lot of the domains reflect what good care looks like, irrespective of the patient’s condition.”
Dr. Louise Clément, Executive Lead,
Clinical Partnerships, Health Standards Organization
“The domains are perfect. I really appreciate the cultural safety and humility domain. A lot of the domains reflect what good care looks like, irrespective of the patient’s condition.”
Dr. Louise Clément, Executive Lead,
Clinical Partnerships, Health Standards Organization
It takes a team
Most people do not know the difference in scope of practice between the various health care team members. They simply want to feel confident that they have a good team caring for them and that they are safe at home. Patients who want to live to the end of their lives at home need team-based home care. A team includes the patient receiving care and their essential caregivers, should they choose to have them.
Accreditation Canada/HSO have shifted their emphasis to a team-based collaborative approach within the health care standards. The standards now include a section, “enabling a healthy and competent team,” where competencies are defined as skills, behaviours and attitudes—similar to the Competency Framework. The assessment links to the team level and not to one profession over another.
If the team is not held to account for quality of care, health outcomes will not improve. As a result, patients often experience an otherwise unplanned visit to the emergency department. To successfully support people to die at home, team-based care must be linked to a core set of integrated competencies
The Canadian Interdisciplinary Palliative Care Competency Framework contributes to the health care sector reflecting on the complexity of palliative care and end-of-life care. It introduces the importance of cultural safety and humility and clarifies the distinction between end-of-life and palliative care. The 12 domains reflect on what good care looks like and aligns to HSO ‘s standards on palliative care used in Accreditation Canada’s Qmentum program. The challenge of the existing framework is that in describing the clinician/caregiver competencies, the Competency Framework presents the palliative care approach as multi-disciplinary, specific to a discipline and can be interpreted as siloed.
The Framework provides an opportunity to flip the lens to the person receiving the care to eliminate fragmentation by discipline. The general competencies within each discipline are quite similar and consolidation through common language standardized across the disciplines would simplify, streamline, coordinate and improve care for patients and families.
Home care is vital to the palliative care that Canadians want. It is imperative that health care embrace a team-based approach, from clinical education to everyday practice.
Dr. Louise Clément is the Executive Director of Clinical Partnerships at Health Standards Organization. Across her many contributions to developing, innovating, and improving standards and accreditation programs, her passion and drive are in finding actionable ways to improve the health care experience for people that receive the care and those who are involved in providing care across the life span.In 2022, she served as coach and advisor in the development of the Pediatric Pain Management, Mental Health and Addictions Services as well as the Long-Term Care Services, all recognized as a National Standard of Canada by the Standards Council of Canada. She lives, plays, and works on the unceded Indigenous lands of the Mi’kmaq people of Abegweit (PEI) and the Kanien’keha:ka people of Tiohtià:ke (Montreal).
This project has been made possible through 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
