Talking About Death Won’t Kill You
Dr. Kathy Kortes-Miller speaking about death and dying. Photo taken by Ottawa Public Library. We were so thrilled to have partnered with Ottawa Public Library on the event “Talking About Death Won’t Kill You” on September 18, 2019, which featured an evening discussion about death and dying with Dr. Kathy Kortes-Miller and the Honourable Sharon…
Read MoreGrief in the American Workplace
by Judith Johnson “Can you imagine ‘getting over’ the death of someone you love deeply in four days? That’s the average paid leave given by American businesses according to ‘Grief Index: The ‘Hidden’ Annual Costs of Grief in America’s Workplace.’ The truth is there is no ‘getting over’ the death of a loved one in…
Read MoreWhat it’s really like to die at home in Ontario
by Celina Carter Pat Mackay wanted to die at home. Sixty-five years old and suffering from metastatic breast cancer, Pat told her family she wanted to spend her last days in her Toronto apartment where she could hold on to her favourite view overlooking the trees of the St. Clair Reservoir. Her husband, Mike, and…
Read MoreCompassionate Ottawa appoints a Program Coordinator
On July 8, Jena Davarajah will begin as Compassionate Ottawa’s full-time Program Coordinator. Jena brings considerable experience in volunteer program management through her current role with Meals on Wheels. She knows our community well, speaks several languages and enjoys research, having completed a master’s degree in legal studies where she focused on urban social policy.…
Read MoreNational Hospice Palliative Care Week 2019
From the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association’s website here: May 5-11, 2019 marks National Hospice Palliative Care Week in Canada. National Hospice Palliative Care Week is a time to celebrate and share achievements of hospice palliative care throughout the nation, but it also provides a platform to look at shortcomings and create bridges for these…
Read MoreComfort Care, Whatever Does That Mean?
by Michael Pottash (@mpottash) Comfort Care, whatever does that mean? This is the important question asked by my colleagues Anne Kelemen and Hunter Groninger in the September 2018 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine. The term is ubiquitous and its interpretation influences how patients with end stage illness are cared for at the end of their lives.…
Read More‘How do I carry this?’: What this mother learned about grief after losing 2 children
Christa Couture knows intimately the many characteristics of grief. After the deaths of two of her three children, she has turned to books, websites and therapists, hoping to find ways to cope. “There have been times that living with the loss of my children has seemed impossible,” Couture said. “It’s not something you can get over…
Read MoreCompassionate Ottawa at Limmud!
We are so pleased to have been invited to hold a café table and to have one of our co-founders, Jackie Holzman, featured as a speaker at Limmud Ottawa on Sunday, March 31, 2019! Our volunteers were able to deliver awareness about compassionate communities and why they are important during the hour focused on Conversations…
Read MoreCreating compassionate communities for older people
by Katie McKeown Older people are meaningful members of society, and they want to be treated that way. That was the key message from the Bolton Clarke Research Institute’s first Symposium on Social Connection in Older Age, held in Melbourne on March 22. The sold-out audience included researchers, service providers and older community members. BCRI…
Read MoreWALKER: Meaning and hope in moments of despair
by Kimothy Walker. When a well-known Ottawa chiropractor wrote to me suggesting her sister be a subject for a column because of her work with MAiD I could be forgiven for thinking maybe she cleaned houses for people in need, as the column is about people giving back. MAiD. Medical Assistance in Dying. Huh. Totally…
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