Serious question: When 85% of Canadians say that their preference is to die at home but only 15% actually do...why do we continue to invest so little in palliative care?

A thread on death & dying in Canada 🙏🏾... Why do we continue to allow so many people to die in hospital?

Percentage of deaths that happen in hospital:
Canada = 61%
Netherlands = 30%
USA = 20%

THREAD: I went to bed angry and I woke up angry. I am enraged...On the same day that ICUs were so full, more field hospitals were being built and our health experts were calling the 3rd wave of #COVID19 a "humanitarian catastrophe"...the Ontario government let us down. /1 Instead of announcing policies that would actually help people (like workplace protections for essential workers, #PaidSickDays, paid time off for vaccination, access to PPE/N95s)...they announced more policing & enforcement. /2

As a palliative care doctor, a big part of what I do is work with people, caregivers & colleagues to hold space for grief & loss.

Over 14,000 Canadians have died from #COVID19.

Today, I hold space for them.

Here are 10 identities I’m thinking of.

A thread...🙏🏾❤️ Leonard Rodriquez, Toronto, ON. A frontline PSW who died because of a lack of PPE. Despite this, he served as an Essential Worker until he succumbed to the virus. Experiences of racism in healthcare led him to avoid seeking care until it was too late. /1
cbc.ca/news/canada/to…

Just finished my first #COVID19 Assessment Centre shift. We were run off our feet with over 198 people seen. Despite that, I can’t say enough about how staff & health workers are stepping up in this time of crisis. This is inspiration. This is dedication. This is community. 🙏🏾 Amidst a crisis of pandemic proportions, #COVID19 is presenting us with an opportunity for our communities to think differently & improve the way we care and treat each other, not just today, but for the future. Here are some examples:

#COVID2019 #Covid_19