On Saturday, June 29, CBC will air a documentary film entitled, The Faces of Palliative Care as part of its Absolutely Vancouver summer series.
Two years in the making, this documentary provides a very personal window into the changing world of palliative care through the stories of patients and the staff who look after them.
“The practice of palliative care is rapidly evolving in Canada,” said filmmaker Doug Nicolle, leader, Telehealth and Media Services at St. Paul’s Hospital.
Nicolle, a former broadcast journalist, worked closely with Dr. Patricia Boston of the Faculty of Medicine, Division of Family Practice at UBC, to produce the one-hour documentary that details current practice in the field of palliative care through the telling of personal stories.
Dr. Wendy Yeomans consults with patient Catherine about her ongoing care in the Palliative Care unit at VGH.
Nicolle shot the documentary at various sites across Vancouver Coastal Health, including VGH’s Palliative Care Unit, Marion Hospice, St. Paul’s Hospital, Canuck Place Children’s Hospice, and Richmond Hospital’s Palliative Care Unit. The documentary includes interviews with Dr. Wendy Yeomans, VGH; Richmond palliative care physicians, Drs. Peter Quelch and Alan Nixon; Dr. Beverley Spring, medical leader of the Vancouver Coastal Home Hospice palliative care service.The film documents how palliative care is no longer relegated to the dire and dark corners of a hospital, but has come into its own as caregivers strive to provide meaningful and comfortable end of life experiences for both patients and their families.
The Faces of Palliative Care airs this Saturday, at 7 p.m., on CBC TV.
Links:
Faces of Palliative Care – YouTube trailer