Palliative Care Resources for Health-Care Providers

Tips for Primary Care & Community Health-Care Providers

• This ‘How-to Guide’ for Accessing Palliative & End-of-Life Care in KFLA provides a summary of many resources on this page. Feb 2026 | 19 pages
• Download Tips for Primary Care & Community Health-Care Providers 

Advance Care Planning (ACP)

• Hospice Palliative Care Ontario 
  • Improving Person-Centred Conversations 
  • Clinician ACP Conversation Guide
• Ariadne Labs - Serious Illness Conversation Guide

Early Identification, Prognostication, and Recognizing Decline

• Project Big Life: RESPECT tool - a quick algorithm calculator that estimates a frail person’s survival based on their health and ability to care for themselves
• Gold Standards Framework: Proactive Identification Guidance  - a 2-page tool with trajectories of illness, plus general and disease-specific indicators of decline
• Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool: SPICT Tool - one-page tool, identifies general and clinical indicators of decline 
• Seattle Heart Failure Model: Clinical Calculator - to predict survival in heart failure specifically  
• The Waiting Room Revolution: Illness Roadmaps - for health-care providers to help patients/caregivers understand what to expect at various stages of illness

Palliative Pain & Symptom Management

• Cancer Care Ontario: Edmonton Symptom Assessment System - revised
• Victoria Hospice: Palliative Performance Scale version 2
• Cancer Care Ontario: Guidelines to Managing Symptoms, Side Effects & Well-Being
• BC Centre for Palliative Care: Symptom Management Guidelines
• Pallium Canada: Palliative Pocketbook
  

Inpatient Palliative Care Unit and Hospice Residence

• Providence Care Hospital: Palliative Care Unit (PCU) - Heritage 2
• Providence Care: AB Smith Homestead House Hospice Residence

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)

Palliative Care and MAiD are distinct types of care but can work together depending on a person’s goals regarding end-of-life. For more information about MAiD, including contact information for MAiD coordination

• Government of Ontario (includes care coordination contact information
• Bridge C-14

Resuscitation & Related Resources

• Palliative Pain & Symptom Management Consultation Program SWO: Algorithm for Informed Consent for a Plan of Treatment related to CPR & Completion of the DNR Confirmation Form
• CARENET: CPR Decision Aid for Patients and Their Families 
• Ontario Ministry of Health: To order copies of DNR Confirmation Form
• CorHealth Ontario: Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) Resources

Steps for End-of-Life Care and Expected Home Death

1. Refer to Ontario Health atHome - visit website
2. Determine Most Responsible Provider (MRP) for end-of-life care
3. Confirm plan for expected home death ("Yellow Folder" from Ontario Health atHome)
4. MRP to order Symptom Response Kit (SRK), if appropriate

Medical Certificate of Death 

There are two options to complete, certify and submit an MCOD:

• Paper MCOD - Visit the Government website to download the MCOD form. Complete by hand or with fillable PDF, certify and provide original paper MCOD to the funeral director/crematorium; OR
• eMCOD - Follow the Government Guide to Completing Electronic MCOD form. Use the fillable eMCOD form, which is embedded in the Guide or can be downloaded from the link below. Submit electronically to the funeral director/crematorium via password protected email.
  • e-Medical Certificate of Death
  • e-Certificat médical de décès

Grief & Bereavement Support

• Grief and Bereavement Resources in KFL&A: an extensive list of local, non-profit organizations, online grief supports, including resources for children and indigenous peoples, and more 

Electronic Medical Record Toolkit for TELUS PS Suite

• Amplify Care: visit their website to download the Palliative Care Toolkit for PSS users
• Amplify Care: visit our Custom Forms page to download the CFM files for PS Suite

OHIP Payments for Palliative Care Services

• Ontario Medical Association: Quick Reference Guide

Organizations (alphabetical)

• Bereavement Authority of Ontario: https://thebao.ca/
• Canadian Home Care Association: https://cdnhomecare.ca/
• Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association: https://www.chpca.ca/
• Canadian Virtual Hospice: https://www.virtualhospice.ca/en_US/Main+Site+Navigation/Home.aspx
• Champlain Hospice Palliative Care Program https://champlainpalliative.ca/  
• CorHealth Ontario: https://www.corhealthontario.ca/resources-for-healthcare-planners-&-providers
• Health Quality Ontario: https://www.hqontario.ca/Evidence-to-Improve-Care/Quality-Standards/View-all-Quality-Standards/Palliative-Care
• Hospice Palliative Care Consultation Services Waterloo Wellington: https://hpcconnection.ca/
• Hospice Palliative Care Ontario: https://www.hpco.ca/
• Ontario Health Palliative Care Program: https://ontariohealth.ca/clinical/palliative
• Pallium Canada: https://www.pallium.ca/
• Project Echo (Pallium Canada): https://www.echopalliative.com/
• The Waiting Room Revolution: https://www.waitingroomrevolution.com/

 

To learn about the FLA OHT Palliative Care Partnerships, visit their Priority Work page.