Alberta Hospice Palliative Care Community of Practice
Recurring event November 27, 2025 · 2:00 - 3:00pm Next Event: January 29, 2026 · 2:00 - 3:00pm
Organized by: Palliative Institute
Audience: Healthcare professionals Researchers
Interested in sharing and learning from other clinicians in delivering palliative and hospice care? Come be a part of the Alberta Hospice Palliative Care Community of Practice!
Connect with colleagues from across Alberta who deliver palliative and end of life care. This community of practice is ideal for clinicians, frontline champions, clinical educators, unit leaders and managers of hospices and palliative care units in Alberta and open to any site that delivers care to people with serious and life-threatening illnesses.
Members of this community of practice will have the opportunity to meet with other clinicians from the province to engage in discussions and explore topics such as continuing education, care delivery processes and best practice care.
Sessions
Spirituality and suffering in end-of-life care
Date: Nov. 27, 2025 · 2-3 p.m. (MST)
Speakers: Wenda Salomons, MTS, certified spiritual care practitioner, Covenant Health and Craig Traynor MDiv, spiritual health practitioner, Covenant Health
Bios: Craig Traynor (MDiv, Counselling Therapist, Spiritual Care Practitioner) and Wenda Salomons (MTS, Counselling Therapist, Certified Spiritual Care Practitioner) work as chaplains for Covenant Health. In their off hours, Craig enjoys creating charcoal drawings and Wenda makes photographs with a pinhole camera.
As a Covenant Health Chaplain, Craig Traynor has provided spiritual care in the Mel Milner Hospice at the Edmonton General. In this unique role, he has innovated and shaped interventions to promote the spiritual health of patients, families and staff. For enjoyment, Craig creates charcoal portraits.
Description: This presentation explores end-of-life suffering through a lens of spirituality. While touching on some historical and cultural background, it focuses on modern approaches to spiritual care and proposes some solutions to address suffering in end-of-life care.
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify spirituality and suffering.
2. Propose solutions to suffering from spiritual perspectives.
3. Specify and address particular End of Life challenges related to spirituality.
More than words: talking with palliative patients
Title of session: More than words: talking with palliative patients
Date: Jan. 29, 2026 · 2-3 p.m. (MST)
Speaker: Jennifer Lam RN, Palliative Care Nurse Consultant, University of Alberta Hospital
Bio: Trained on TPCU at GNH for 11 years before starting consulting role at UAH in 2019. Other experience involves work on GIM and nephrology units. Co-host of Care Chats Podcast for Palliative Nursing education with my illustrious colleagues Danica and Brooklyn.
Description: Talking with patients who have a palliative diagnosis is tough sometimes. In this session we will reflect on our own experiences, and review some research backed strategies for communication, and collaborate on how to put these strategies to use.
Exploring Goals of Care Designations (GCDs): Interpretation and Communication
Title of session: Exploring Goals of Care Designations (GCDs): Interpretation and Communication
Date: Mar. 26, 2026 · 2-3 p.m. (MST)
Speaker: Jennifer Zelmer, RNBN, M.Ed, Education Consultant- Advance Care Planning Goals of Care, Calgary Zone, Assisted Living Alberta
Bio: Jennifer Zelmer is an Education Consultant for Assisted Living Alberta’s Advance Care Planning Goals of Care Program for the Calgary Zone. She graduated from the University of Calgary in 2003 with a Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing and has worked as a Registered Nurse in Internal Medicine, General Surgery (post-op), Intensive Care and Colon Cancer Screening prior to pursuing a Master’s Degree in Education. Jennifer joined the Advance Care Planning/Goals of Care team in 2015. Jennifer is strongly committed to spreading knowledge and improving conversations around Advance Care Planning and Goals of Care as a way of enhancing health care delivery that reflects the unique wishes and values of each individual patient/client we serve.
Description: This session will examine the Goals of Care Designation (GCDs) Orders used in Alberta. Interpretation of the GCDs along with communication strategies and resources for discussing GCDs will be explored.
More than witnessing a choice: Family Members and MAiD
Title of session: More than witnessing a choice: Family Members and MAiD
Date: May 28, 2026 · 2-3 p.m. (MST)
Speaker: Dr. Tracy L. Powell, PhD, RN, Associate Professor at Faculty of Health, Community and Education, Mount Royal University in Calgary, AB
Bio: Dr. Tracy Powell, a registered nurse and associate professor at the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Mount Royal University in Calgary, has a clinical background in oncology, cancer care and palliative care. With over 30 years of experience in clinical practice and academia, Dr. Powell’s research program focuses on medical assistance in dying, particularly on family members and caregivers. In addition to her academic work, Dr. Powell serves on the Board of Bridge C-14.
Description: In this presentation, Dr. Powell discusses the complex experiences of family members who support a loved one through the process of medical assistance in dying (MAiD).
This event is part of the Covenant Health Palliative Institute's ECHO Hub virtual knowledge-sharing platform. Find more events or revisit past sessions on ECHO Hub.