Call for Applications: Improving Equity in Access to Palliative Care (Cohort 2)

Deadline: 15-Sep-23

The Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC) and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (the Partnership) invite you to join them and communities across Canada as they create measurable improvement in access to palliative approaches to care with and for people experiencing homelessness or vulnerable housing through the Improving Equity in Access to Palliative Care (IEAPC) collaborative.

After welcoming 10 communities across seven provinces to participate in the first cohort starting in 2022, HEC and the Partnership are now inviting additional communities to join the collaborative.

This collaborative helps communities implement leading and innovative practices to help people experiencing homelessness or vulnerable housing access palliative care when they need it most.

Models developed in Canada for individuals experiencing homelessness or vulnerable housing are widely regarded in the palliative care community and literature as leading and innovative practices. Innovative aspects of these models include:

using a strengths-based approach
co-developing services with people with lived and living experience
providing care where people are (including in shelters or on the street)
creating cross-sector partnerships to sustainably fund services
involving people’s family (including chosen family) and communities in care and support
using trauma-informed approaches for palliative care
addressing challenges to accessing current palliative care models in traditional healthcare settings
measuring and demonstrating impacts on appropriateness of healthcare use through the integration of health and social services (for example decreasing avoidable emergency department visits) access to and connections with services, programs, agencies and/or resources
- patient related outcomes such as the ability for people to die in the place of their choice
- the social determinants of health to facilitate access equitable access to palliative care

Benefits

Receive funding of up to $100,000 per community over two years for eligible personnel, travel, equipment, and supplies and services expenses to support planning and implementation. The amount of funding granted will be based on demonstrated needs as identified via a budget proposal.
Build relationships and strengthen engagement with First Nations, Inuit and Métis to improve access to culturally safe and equitable care.
Access capacity-building opportunities to create and support meaningful partnerships with people with lived experience – patients, essential care partners, and communities.
Participate in interactive, dynamic learning and implementation support opportunities using an ‘all teach, all learn’ approach, including learning through discussions with peers and experts about local, regional and national challenges; educational opportunities endorsed by trusted sources and streamlined content tailored to address relevant topics. Learn and connect directly with communities in Cohort 1 who have been working to improve access to palliative approaches to care.
Receive measurement and evaluation supports to create evaluation plans and processes to evaluate palliative approaches to care over the long-term, based on the needs and preferences of people with lived and living experience of homelessness or vulnerable housing and other community partners.
Receive implementation and capacity building supports to help communities at varying stages of program development:
- Engage with individuals with lived and living experience, caregivers, providers and community members and organizations to identify local priorities and co-design an implementation plan and evaluation approaches.
- Leverage existing education and strengths-based approaches to build capacity for an equity-oriented palliative approach to care among volunteers, community services workers and others including clinical staff.
- Implement new or expand existing palliative care supports and programs that can be sustained after the seed funding period ends.
Learn and share within a pan-Canadian collaborative network to promote strategies and practices across sites, with a focus on sharing solutions to challenges and factors that support long-term success (such as policies and leadership support).

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible, organizations must apply as a community. A community is defined as a group of at least two organizations in a province, territory or region that are working together to improve access to palliative approaches to care for people experiencing homelessness or vulnerable housing (such as a social program, shelter/housing facility, community health centre, hospice, etc.).
If you represent a First Nations, Inuit, Métis or urban Indigenous organization that works with people experiencing homelessness or vulnerable housing and would like to support better access to palliative care you are encouraged to apply.
Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria to apply:
- Eligible communities include social service or healthcare organizations that are responsible for the delivery and/or funding of social, health or palliative care supports and programs for individuals experiencing homelessness of vulnerable housing.
  - A lead organization will be identified by the applicant.
  - The lead organization will commit to sign a collaboration agreement outlining requirements around funding and distribution of funds, data sharing, reporting, intellectual property, audits and records and confidentiality.
- Participants will commit to:
  - Partner with communities and those with lived and living experience to co-design evaluation and implementation plans that reflect needs and preferences of those who stand to benefit from the program.
  - Plan, implement and evaluate equitable, safe, quality palliative approaches to care to meet individual and community needs.
  - Seek to improve experiences and outcomes for patients and providers.
  - Participate in learning events with the other participating teams and subject matter experts to share goals, strategies, challenges, and results to advance palliative approaches to care for people experiencing homelessness or vulnerable housing.
  - Work with HEC and the Partnership to identify goals, needs, and other information to help design tailored program supports; create an implementation and evaluation plan; complete progress reporting as required (including funding expenditure reporting twice yearly) and a final report outlining results of an evaluation that will include common measures that will be collected across all communities.
- Both the lead organization and participants will commit to:
  - Review and confirm understanding of HEC’s conflict of interest policy.
  - Where an actual or perceived conflict of interest exists or is anticipated, the applicant shall fully disclose the conflict of interest to Healthcare Excellence Canada in writing.
The lead organization will devote time, provide leadership support, and identify and support providers, staff and patient/ community partners to participate in activities and submit deliverables as outlined in the application form. HEC can provide guidance to help you identify your lead organization.