Abstract

The Canadian Parliamentary Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care in 2011 recommended the development and implementation of a national palliative and end-of-life care strategy. In response, the Speak Up campaign was launched to raise national public awareness of the importance of advance care planning (ACP) and has begun a national conversation about planning for end of life care by providing access to shared tools and terminology, making it easier for Canadians to share their preferences for future care with family, friends and health professionals. Provincial-wide clinical practice and policy initiatives are currently being developed and implemented, both disease specific and non-disease specific, to facilitate ACP. This presentation will discuss these initiatives, along with their successes and challenges.