John Monahan, President and CEO, Mount Pleasant Group, Dr. Naheed Dosani, Dr. Nadine Persaud and Rick Firth, President and CEO, HPCO.
The recipient of the 2024 Mount Pleasant Group Hospice Innovation Award is Kensington Hospice.
To meet their goal of providing equitable and accessible care to community members, Kensington Hospice implemented a clinical health equity program led by their Executive Director and their Clinical Health Equity Lead to help frontline staff integrate equity, diversity, and inclusion practices into all areas of the organization.
To achieve this, they enrolled all staff in various formal and informal educational training programs, including trauma-informed care, anti-racism, harm reduction, cultural humility, and cultural safety. They also revamped their referrals program to create stronger community partnerships to meet the true needs of their community.
The result was a measurable increase in community-based referrals, racialized residents served, residents who identified as being underhoused, residents who identified as having mental health illness, and residents who were non-English speaking. Kensington hospice’s commitment to employing innovative solutions to create clear pathways for individuals requiring care has laid a solid foundation upon which to grow this program.
Dr. Nadine Persaud, Executive Director, and Dr. Naheed Dosani, Clinical Health Equity Program Lead, accepted the award on behalf of Kensington Hospice.
The Mount Pleasant Group Hospice Innovation Award, established in 2019, recognizes innovative solutions, approaches, and care delivery by community-based hospices throughout Ontario. This year’s nominations were received and adjudicated by an expert panel and a representative from Mount Pleasant Group.
The award was presented at our Awards Gala on June 10, 2024, which occurred during our Annual Conference. The 2024 conference theme was Palliative Care Everywhere. Building on the 2023 conference theme of Now is the Time, Palliative Care Everywhere underscores the importance of a palliative approach to care being available in all settings where people die. Despite the progress we have made, many people do not have equitable access to quality, integrated, patient-centred, sustainable hospice palliative care services. Whether at home, in hospice, in long-term care, in hospital, group homes, prisons, shelters, or unhoused, palliative care must be available in all settings and for all people.
