The National Framework
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This document is at the core of The Way Forward initiative. The National Framework guides healthcare professionals, health systems leaders, program planners and others as they adopt an integrated palliative approach to care. It contains principles and action steps, best practices and other resources to help communities and organizations adopt a palliative approach to care across all settings of care.
The first draft of the National Framework was developed in the spring of 2013 by The Way Forward advisory committee with advice from members of the QELCCC. It was distributed widely and then revised and refined based on feedback from governments, healthcare professionals, organizations across the country, including First Nations groups, and Canadians facing care issues associated with aging, frailty and chronic illnesses.
Since then, organizations across Canada – including the Government of Alberta, the Canadian Home Care Association and the Canadian Nurses Association and the Canadian Medical Association – have used the framework to implement an integrated palliative approach to care. Used alone or with the Speak Up! Toolkit – the national advance care planning initiative – The Way Forward can enhance care and quality of life for Canadians.
The Way Forward initiative would like to thank the many healthcare providers, policymakers, organizations, and families and caregivers across all sectors – including federal, provincial and territorial governments, home care, primary/acute care, long-term care and organizations representing Canada’s First Peoples – who helped create The National Framework: A Roadmap for an Integrated Palliative Approach to Care. The framework benefited greatly from your wisdom and advice. We would also like to thank the Government of Canada for recognizing the importance of the issues and having the foresight to fund this ground-breaking initiative.
