Access to Palliative Care in Canada

Palliative care enables a better end of life, but not all Canadians have access to it. Access to community-based palliative care has become a priority for federal, provincial and territorial governments, with an emphasis on services that can help people remain in the community even at the end of life. The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) investigated the current state of access to publicly funded palliative care across the country. The purpose of the research is to help health system planners to identify service gaps and develop strategies for improving care. Using linked administrative data, the analysis found that while many people could benefit from palliative care at the end of life, only a few (15%) received palliative home care in Alberta and Ontario in 2016-2017. The analysis also found that early palliative care in the community was associated with better end-of-life outcomes and that access to palliative care varied by age and whether a patient had cancer or not.