Over the past 15 years that Carefor Hospice Cornwall has been open we have seen tremendous change in the need for and nature of hospice and palliative care. This transformation reflects a broader shift toward patient-centered, holistic approaches to end-of-life care in Ontario. These changes have been driven by evolving societal attitudes toward death and dying, advancements in medical practices, and increased recognition of the importance of quality of life in the face of terminal illness.
One of the most notable developments has been the integration of palliative care into the healthcare system. Previously viewed as a service limited to terminal phases of illness, palliative care is now recognized as essential from the point of diagnosis. This shift has been facilitated by initiatives such as the Ontario Palliative Care Network, which aims to enhance access to palliative services across the province.
Patients can now receive palliative care alongside curative treatments, ensuring that their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs are addressed throughout their illness. At Hospice Cornwall, we have seen more clients be admitted to receive support on managing their palliative diagnosis and care before returning home to continue receiving services.
The expansion of hospice services has also played a crucial role in changing the landscape of end-of-life care. Hospice Cornwall has seen an increase in the need for home-based hospice care options. Our community-based programs are connecting hospice services with people in the community. Programs such as our Palliative Day Program, Caregiver Support and our Grief and Bereavement Kits are linking clients and their caregivers to supports that might have previously either not been offered or only offered in the Hospice.
As an organization that provides home care in Ottawa, our Visit Nursing program has seen a greater need and desire for people to receive palliative care at home. With home being people’s preferred place to receive end-of-life care, home care agencies like Carefor have been called upon to provide greater and more complex palliative care at home.
Education and training for healthcare providers and volunteers have improved dramatically. Increased emphasis on training professionals in palliative care principles has led to a more compassionate and informed approach to end-of-life issues. Healthcare workers are now better equipped to navigate the complex emotional and physical challenges that patients and families face, enhancing the overall quality of care. In addition, Hospice Palliative Care Ontario has heavily invested in developing education modules for hospices to use in providing education to volunteers.
Public awareness campaigns have also contributed to this evolution. Initiatives aimed at educating the public about the benefits of palliative care have reduced stigma and encouraged individuals to discuss their wishes regarding end-of-life care. This shift has fostered a culture where patients are more willing to engage in conversations about their preferences, leading to more tailored care plans.
Finally, technological advancements have transformed the delivery of palliative care. Telemedicine and digital health tools have increased access to specialists, allowing patients in rural or hard to services areas to receive expert guidance and support.
Over the past 15 years, Hospice and our palliative care services have evolved into being more integrated, compassionate, and accessible. These changes reflect a commitment to honouring the dignity of individuals at the end of life, ensuring that their needs are met with respect and empathy.
The Oaks is a busy place. People come and go, passing from the street by the front counter into the main room. Throughout the common rooms and outside people sit, mostly by themselves. The smell of stale alcohol hangs in the air wherever you go.
As a managed alcohol program, it makes sense. Workers give 7 oz of alcohol to residents in the morning and 5 oz every hour thereafter. You don’t see intoxication in the morning, but you can in the evening, says Carefor Client Care Worker (CCW), Courtney McIntosh. “They’ve been drinking all day. It catches up.”
Courtney has been a CCW at The Oaks on Merivale Road for almost 11 years. As the name suggests, his role is to help care for the residents who live at The Oaks. “We take care of the clients active daily living,” explains Courtney. “Medication, showering, assist with meals, set up appointments, all the good stuff. Laundry…you name it, we do it.”
Christal Brownlee, Program Manager for Shepherds of Good Hope expands on the role of the CCW, “They support with everything from behavioural management to support with their meals, addressing their individual needs that they may not recognize”
The Oaks is operated by Shepherds of Good Hope but what goes inside is a partnership between Shepherds who provides staff to run the building’s day to day including preparing meals and providing drinks to residents, Carefor who provides the CCWs and Ottawa Inner City Health who provides nursing support. The building houses up to 60 people all of whom are not only battling alcoholism but also often mental health issues.
Increasingly staff are also dealing with an aging population and all the issues that go along with it, including greater physical and mental challenges such as dementia. “It is a retirement home for people who are battling some real personal challenges,” says Kaelen Bray, Director of Client Care for Personal Support Services and Inner City.
“You may be a tenant, but we will wrap around [Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA)] services if we can and they need them,” says Christal. “This can be something as simple as putting themselves at risk, not eating. We identify these things so we can reach out to CMHA and ideally those external workers and get them involved.”
As the name managed alcohol program suggests, The Oaks follows a harm reduction model whereby housing and supports are offered to help mitigate risks which go along with the impact of alcoholism on residents. “We try and keep people in house as long as we possibly can,” says Christal. “For many individuals this is their home. We meet people exactly where they’re at. The stigma that comes with our clientele is very important to us. We don’t want them to feel displaced. We don’t want them to feel unwelcomed. We have people who have been here since the conception of the program (14 years). People are here as long as they need to be here.”
There is no one path to The Oaks. Every person living there has a story. Kevin Nyembo, Carefor Inner City Supervisor says that while there are a lot of mental health issues that start the journey to The Oaks for many residents, trauma also plays a large part. “We have residents who are ex-RCMP, ex-military,” says Kevin.
You can see the impact of hard lives having been lived on the people in The Oaks. It’s 8:45 in the morning. Some people head to the garden in the back parking lot for a smoke that they just rolled, others stay inside and sit. The next drink will be poured in 15 minutes.
While mostly people keep to themselves there is a sense of togetherness in the struggle for today and tomorrow. No pressure or expectations, just people getting through it together. The staff offer support, stability and safe place in a not so safe world.
Heading into his 11th year at the program, Courtney knows that what he’s doing matters. “It is the satisfaction that comes from knowing that you’re doing something for somebody,” he says. “You go home knowing you made a difference.”
At the end of June, 15 Carefor PSWs completed a 10-week Advanced Pain and Symptom Management course at Algonquin College. Carefor offered staff this training not only to improve care for clients and skills for staff, but to also build a team of PSWs who have advanced palliative care training.
Home care has changed dramatically over the past few years with staff being required to offer far more complex levels of care that might otherwise be performed in hospitals. This training allows more people to be able to be discharged from hospitals to be able to die at home.
“The current nursing shortage in home care has meant that while PSWs cannot do medication administration, training such as this allows them to offer other forms of care to our clients, many of whom are dealing with chronic diseases,” says Carefor Professional Practice Lead, Diane Roscoe.
The course offered a palliative approach to care focused on pain and symptoms management and covered a wide array of topics including beliefs, understanding the dying process, the circle of care, identifying and supporting pain, breathing difficulties, fatigue and delirium.
Two weeks of the course involved a lab which allowed students a more hands-on experience. In the lab, students had several case studies to help them understand real life situations and the best practices to take in relation to practices such as occupied bed making, mouth/skin care, positioning for comfort, wounds and dressing, catheter care, oxygen therapy, pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain management and much more.
One of the students, Jeremiah Olugboye, said he took the course “as a reminder of why the health care industry exists. It’s easy to quickly forget that it’s not about just going to a job and doing what is required of you, but that the clients need the care on a more empathic level from a place of knowledge.”
Jeremiah felt the course would help him with his work in numerous ways, including providing him enhanced confidence and skill in end-of-life care, improving his communication with clients, care team and clients’ family where necessary, increasing his cultural competence and inclusion for diverse client care, and helping him addresses ethical considerations in palliative care. And beyond all else, “ultimately improving the quality of life for clients in their final days.”
After 30 years of working for Carefor, Caroline Rooney is retiring from her role as Supervisor of the Nor-Dun Support Centre in Winchester on June 21. On June 13, nearly 100 friends, volunteers, co-workers and clients gathered at Nor Dun to bid a fond farewell to Caroline Rooney as she prepared for her retirement.
Several people spoke of Caroline’s dedication over her 30 years of working for Carefor. Dianne Kuipers, Carefor Associate Director, spoke of the Caroline’s dedication, calling her an ambassador for the organization. She continued by commenting how Caroline worked to ensure the Centre worked for the community before concluding by saying how the centre was an important part of her journey and Caroline has been important to it.
“I am absolutely speechless” commented Caroline who spoke about her journey with Carefor. She mentioned her work included starting in 1993 as program co-ordinator, then team leader and finally supervisor. Caroline talked about how the team has supported each other through good times and through difficult times, such as the ice storm, and through Covid. She thanked the clients, staff and volunteers as well as the community for the support.
There was an outpouring of affection for Caroline as she made her way around the room, with many wishes of goodwill for her future. Sheena Stoqua will follow in her footsteps as Supervisor at Nor Dun Support Centre.
Read more about Caroline and her time with Carefor:
Dying is a lonely experience. Even if surrounded by friends and family, the act of passing from this life is done alone. But what if the lead up to death is also experienced without anyone at your side? For homeless people who are either disconnected from their family or have none at all, being palliative can add layers onto a solitary existence. Client Care Workers, like Rinah Oloo, who work at the Ottawa Mission Hospice, can be one of the only people those living with homeless have with them as they end their journey.
Rinah is a Carefor employee who works at the Mission Hospice as part of the partnership between Carefor, Shepherds of Good Hope, The Ottawa Mission and Ottawa Inner City Health. The partnership brings health care professionals together to form teams that support homeless people out of programs across the city such as the Mission Hospice and Oaks, a 55-unit facility which provides a Managed Alcohol Program.
Rinah started at Carefor 16 years ago as a Personal Support Worker, providing care in the community, but transitioned to her current role as a Client Care Worker (CCW) working out of the Oaks and the Mission 13 years ago. In her work she provides much of the same care she gave in the community such as grooming, bathing and feeding, but with the added complexities of not only supporting a homeless community but also those who are palliative. “It’s a humbling responsibility. Many people have no families. We become like their families,” says Rinah.
The nature of a PSWs work goes beyond what people might see as typical health care – the diagnosis and the treatment – it assists someone in the day to day of managing their condition. But when one is combining that support with the possibility of homelessness, mental health issues, and addiction and then on top of it end of life care, the complexity of the care can grow exponentially.
Palliative care is an approach. While the term palliative suggests an imminent end, the palliative journey can take time and requires a long care approach, not just physical but also emotional. “We give them emotional support,” says Rinah. “Because they are people dealing with loneliness. People who are living on the street, people who have no family. We step in as their families and give them that emotional support.”
While there is no one story for individuals who are experiencing homelessness, addiction issues can be common and add challenges to care. However, as with all care provided to people at the Mission Hospice, a coordinated approach between the care team including doctors, nurses and CCWs, helps them understand and manage their addiction through their palliative care. “We have a harm reduction program and can prescribe alcohol because it is something they have had through their lives. We’re not going to take it away because of the negative impact,” says Rinah.
It’s not easy work, but for Rinah, knowing she’s helping people is its own reward. Knowing that someone who may have no one in their life end their journey with someone at their side to hold their hand and to listen to their story is why she does it. “People tell you about their lives. They tell you why they became homeless and how they lost connection with their families,” she says. “We empathize, we listen. By listening you give them that support that someone is out there. When they’re out on the street no one is listening but by listening you make them feel like someone is there for them.”
“When do you do something good to a person, it motivates you, it lifts your spirits…because you are doing something that is good for humanity…because you’re part of their life and part of their journey; you participate in that journey. We give them physical and mental care so they can leave their life in a dignified way.”
Learn more about Carefor’s partnership with Shepherds of Good Hope, The Ottawa Mission and Ottawa Inner City Health.
22 years. That’s how long Milly Hernandez has been working as a personal support worker. The Carefor employee immigrated to Canada from Guatemala in 1992. When she first moved to Canada, she got by through running a home daycare and working as a minibus driver. Seeing her mom work for Carefor, Milly was interested in a similar opportunity, and she ended up in contact with former Personal Support Services Manager, Nancy Mylrea, who offered her a position as a homemaker. Soon after, Milly had an eye-opening experience with Carefor.
Not long before immigrating to Canada, Milly had lost her father to suicide. She says that his death came after a battle with alcoholism, and that addiction runs in her family. She recounts her intense emotions as she dealt with the grief, saying “I was mad with my dad. Like, how can you kill yourself?” Milly was still coping with these feelings when Carefor offered her a position working in our Inner City partnership with Shepherds of Good Hope and Ottawa Inner City Health.
Because of her time supporting people at Inner City, Milly got firsthand experience interacting with people who face addiction. Supported by training from Carefor that focused on helping people living with addictions, Milly says that over time this new knowledge helped her contextualize her father’s actions and cope with the grief of losing him. “I started thinking, you know what? I shouldn’t blame him,” she says, “now I know this is a disease.”
This wasn’t the only obstacle Milly struggled with, though. While working with Carefor she was also dealing with an abusive relationship. She said that she was beginning to fear for her children’s wellbeing, and knew she needed to get help. She went back to Nancy Mylrea asking for advice on the situation. Nancy told Milly to take some time off and helped her find resources. “She gave me some pamphlets,” recounts Milly, “and I ended up going to the shelter because I needed help.” After getting back on her feet, Milly was able to return to work, something that’s very important to her.
You can see the passion Milly has for her work as a PSW. She speaks about it with tremendous enthusiasm, but you get the sense that’s just who she is. Now, Milly has been working with Carefor as a PSW for 22 years. She currently works with seniors, stating that what’s important to her is spreading joy to people and ensuring that they keep their dignity as they age. This is what inspired her to lead Zumba classes for seniors, looking for fun ways to help seniors keep their bodies and minds healthy.
Milly is well known for spreading joy among her clients, who take notice of the colourful outfits she wears to work. Even her bright shoes are part of Milly’s goal to bring happiness to everyone she works with. Milly says she’s grateful to Carefor for helping her pursue this goal: “[Carefor] really gives people the ability to change their life if they want. And if they have a problem… [Carefor] helps them with the transition.”
If you are interested in getting a job with Carefor, look at our Careers page. To learn more about our Personal Support Services, visit our In-Home Care page.
Deciding on a career involves a hundred small decisions. Is the work fulfilling? Where can I do it? How much does it pay? What are the hours? On and on. But finding your calling is like any relationship: it just has to come naturally.
For Carefor Support Centre Supervisor, Michele Morgan, her career started as a part-time Administrative Assistant at the North Stor Seniors Support Centre in Finch when the building first opened in 1993.
She stayed there for over a decade, bringing her young children in to help with the activities for the seniors who visited the centre. However, in 2004, her curiosity about other career opportunities became too strong to ignore, so she got her insurance broker’s license and started working at an insurance agency, “because like everyone else you think there’s something better happening,” Michele recalls.
“You find out who you want to be and you be that person regardless.”
To say going from the social community of the North Stor Seniors Support Centre to an insurance agency was a change, is an understatement. “It was a lot of paper and a lot of busy time but not a lot of one on one with the client,” Michele says. “There was no feel good about it.”
She started to consider if she made the right move and when she was told that the person who replaced her at North Stor was leaving, she returned to Carefor. It was then that she understood how one’s life can’t be lived in compartments. To be one person in one place and another somewhere else is no way to live a life. “You find who you want to be, and you be that person regardless,” she says. “I thought that’s where I belong, and I’ll kick myself if I don’t apply.”
She also saw how working at North Stor wasn’t just part of her, it was a family. “My kids were born when I was there,” she recalls with a smile. “The most impactful time of my life was at the centre. That was my family. When I stepped outside of that, I saw wanting to be “more” wasn’t what made me feel good.”
Not long after returning to Carefor she moved from Administrative Assistant to Program Coordinator and then to her current position as Supervisor for both North Stor Support Centre in Finch and South Stormont Support Centre in Ingleside.
Looking over her career she sees how her work has impacted her and her family. “A lot of influence of who I am today comes a lot of seeing older adults every day,” says Michele.
As for her children, they’re now 29 and 24 and you can see the effect of years of volunteering and doing summer jobs and coops at the centre had on them with the elder being the Manager of Community Support Services for JW McIntosh in Williamsburg and the younger being a Personal Support Worker. “They started volunteering there at 5,” Michele recalls. “It was an amazing place to grow up. It takes a village…”
Looking back over her career she doesn’t regret the decisions she made along the way and recognizes how they helped her better know what’s important to her. “If you’re spending eight hours a day [at work] you have to be happy there,” she says. “I wouldn’t change the path of my journey. If I didn’t leave [Carefor] I would never had that revelation.”
To find out more about working at Carefor, visit our website.
On April 9th, Carefor PSW Murphy Akangoziri had his appointments for the day. Among them was Fortunato Furano, a 93 year-old client he supports every Tuesday with dressing and some basic health care. Murphy works in Ottawa West and has two clients who live close to one another. He decided for some reason to visit Fortunato first. It was a decision that saved a life.
When Murphy walked in the door, he expected a visit like any other, but instead he found Fortunato’s wife laying on the floor not breathing. Her daughter had fought through her panic to dial 911 moments before Murphy arrived. An ambulance was on its way but in moments like this, minutes can feel like hours. As soon as Murphy entered the home he asked, “Can I help?” to which Fortunato pleaded, “Help save my wife, please.”
Having been trained in CPR offered by the Red Cross, he knew he had the training for situations like this but one never knows how they’ll be able to use it until the moment arises. This training was made available to Murphy and his fellow PSWs via donations to Carefor.
Murphy began giving chest compressions while Fortunato’s daughter gave mouth to mouth resuscitation. Fifteen minutes after they made the call, the ambulance arrived. “I felt confident in my training,” Murphy recalls. The paramedics arrived and with the defibrillator shocked Lidia’s heart. Fortunato looked on. All he could do was watch as the love of his life lay on the floor. Her heartbeat finally returned.
After the paramedics took Lidia to the hospital, Murphy stayed with Fortunato for two hours comforting him. “I was really really bad,” recalls Fortunato the emotion of the day still in his voice. “I want to thank [Murphy] very much.” Fortunato’s daughter who informed Carefor about the incident said, “basically [Murphy] helped save my mother’s life,” something the paramedics later confirmed. “I think he should be recognized…He stayed with my dad a good hour and a half to two hours [after].”
On April 18th, Carefor’s manager of Personal Support Services, Jennifer Faucher, PSS supervisor, Natalie Smith and PSS Professional Practice Lead, Diane Roscoe met with Murphy to thank him in person offering him a small token of our gratitude for his exceptional work. He also received a Carefor Stars pin and letter from Fortunato’s family. “It’s not every day that you save a life and we wanted to acknowledge your efforts and we wanted to thank you for being part of the team,” said Jennifer Faucher to Murphy.
On receiving the thanks, Murphy expressed his gratitude but also showed his humility. He’s a large man standing over six feet but has a gentleness about him that you can see would have been comforting to Fortunato during his time of need. “It was like God told him to come to our house,” says Lidia’s daughter, Gina. “He wasn’t supposed to go then, but something told him to.” “I don’t know why I chose to go to their house first,” Murphy recalls. “I told [Fortunato] God loves your wife.”
Upon leaving their home, Murphy continued with his work going to his next client visit. He hasn’t visited Fortunato since the incident but takes comfort knowing he helped his wife. “She has a permanent pacemaker now,” says Gina. “She is sore, but she is doing better.”
Carefor offers Personal Support as part of our home care services in Ottawa, Cornwall and area and Pembroke-Renfrew County. To learn more, visit our website.
The path we take for our career rarely follows a straight line. Along the journey we make decisions to help us find not only the type of work we want to do, but also the kind of life we want to have.
When Meghann Gallop graduated from university in 2008 as an occupational therapist, her first job was at Carefor. After three years of working in the community she left to explore other opportunities and found a job working for an insurance agency assessing worker claims. This was decidedly not the fulfilling job she was looking for. Meghann struggled with the opposing goals between her agency and her clients, as she was there to assess their claims and not to improve people’s health.
Another problem for Meghann was the effect that the work was having on her wellbeing. In this role, she felt seriously overworked. She describes long hours, working regularly after she put her children to bed to 11:00 PM to complete her reports. Along with this poor work-life balance, Meghann recalls, “The pay was terrible, benefits were terrible and there was no pension.” Eventually, she decided that her calling was somewhere else.
Meghann brought these concerns to Kaelan Bray, Carefor Allied Health Manager at the time. Hearing Meghann’s struggles, she recommended that Meghann send in her resume. By 2013, Meghann was back on the Carefor team, working full-time as an occupational therapist. This time around, Meghann was here to stay.
“I’m probably a Carefor lifer,” she laughs. “I don’t know why I would leave. I like the job; it gives me a good work-life balance,” says Meghann. A key aspect of the job for her are the connections she forges and the comfort that she can bring people. In some environments, like hospital inpatient care, Meghann says it can be harder to support clients. When they’re so divorced from their normal life, it’s difficult as an OT to assess their realities and offer them suggestions to manage or overcome them. “[In hospital, everyone] is in in the same bed, wearing the same hospital gown.”
But working with clients in their homes gives you the chance to talk to them in their own space. You can ask questions about their home, see how they manage their daily life, and offer solutions in real-time as you observe the barriers they face. You connect with people on a personal level. “Homecare is the heart of occupational therapy,” she says. “Being in people’s homes allows you to see them in their natural environment.”
Additionally, she finds satisfaction with her scope of practice. She sees five clients a day and they can be five different people with very different needs. “I never get bored. I see a lot of variety,” she says.
Now, with a job that she’s passionate about and a pension plan that supports her future, Meghann has found a place she feels she belongs. “I work alone in the community, but I have a team that I connect with. We message each other throughout the day and go for lunch together once a month.” Carefor has offered her the chance to make personal connections in work and maintain her life out of it. For Meghann, there’s no looking back.
If you’re interested in joining the Carefor team, go to the Careers page on the Carefor website to learn more.
Elizabeth has been working in the community as a Personal Support Worker (PSW) for 8 years with Carefor. Each day is new and different, filled with a variety of clients and situations making it an ideal job for her.
Being a PSW in the community positively impacts not only our clients but their families as well, no matter how much or how little family members are able to help out, PSWs’ are there. Because of PSWs’ Carefor clients are safer and stay longer at home, able to live fulfilling lives. “I’ve had client’s children come to me,” Elizabeth says “They’ll say, my mother, my father talks about how great everything has been, I’m so glad my mom and dad get to stay at home.”
By choosing a career as a Carefor PSW Elizabeth not only choose to help those in the community she chose the guidance and support from those she works with. “If I did not have the management, the supervisors, the coordinators behind me I would not have lasted in this,” says Elizabeth.
With a supportive staff behind you, as a PSW you have the opportunity to build your own schedule around your life. “If you have children you have to take to school in the morning… or you have an appointment in the middle of the day (you) don’t have to hand back clients,” Elizabeth says a process which in turn helps to eliminate burn in the long run.
There are so many enticing benefits to working as a PSW such as positive impacts, generous compensation, benefits and pension plans. Working as a PSW for Carefor you gain a support system that encourages you to grow in your role and for Elizabeth, that means “they are always looking out for your ongoing education and your knowledge as a PSW.”
Click here to see how Elizabeth makes an impact on the lives of her clients.
To learn more about working at Carefor, click here.
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