In Touch newsletter: Summer 2014

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INTOUCH SUMMER 2014

Harvey Stubbert, a nurse from Fred Victor Housing, and Dr. Naheed Dosani, a palliative care physician at St. Michaels, meet with patient Daniel Thibideau during the mobile unit’s first palliative consult. (Photo by Yuri Markarov, Medical Media Centre)

Palliative home care for the homeless By Geoff Koehler

Homeless and under-housed individuals have specific preferences for where they’d like to die and on July 2, Inner City Health Associates – a group affiliated with St. Michael’s Hospital – began making their preferences a reality. Palliative Education and Care for the Homeless, or PEACH, is a mobile palliative care program that offers vulnerable individuals the dignity of choosing where to receive end-of-life care. “Most people want to pass away at Printed on 100 per cent recycled paper

home with family around them,” said Dr. Naheed Dosani, a palliative care physician with St. Michael’s and Inner City Health Associates. “That sentiment is no different from the patients PEACH aims to treat. The only difference is that our patients’ homes are often a shelter and their families may be shelter clients and staff.” An interdisciplinary team, comprised of a palliative care physician and nurse, will essentially form a mobile palliative unit. The team will go out into the community to meet patients with serious illnesses to provide specialized care and work with

the patient’s existing care team. “Research has shown that when palliative care begins early, it has the potential to improve quality of life and, in some cases, even prolong life,” said Dr. Dosani. “That seems counterintuitive but reveals the importance of palliative care’s integration with the rest of medical treatment. With PEACH, we want to provide upstream, streamlined integration, for this underserviced population.” Namarig Ahmed, a community nurse Continued on page 7

SUMMER 2014 | IN TOUCH | 1


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