Palliative care stakeholders in Canada

Background Improving access to palliative care for Canadians requires a focused collective effort towards palliative and end-of-life care advocacy and policy. However, evolution of modern palliative care in Canada has resulted in stakeholders working in isolation. Identification of stakeholders is an important step to ensure that efforts to improve palliative care are coordinated. The purpose of this analysis is to collectively identify, classify and prioritize stakeholders who made contributions to national palliative care policies in Canada. Methods A systematic grey literature search was conducted examining policy documents (i.e. policy reports, legislative bills, judicial court cases) in the field of palliative care, end-of-life care and medical assistance in dying, at the national level, over the last two decades. Organizations' names were extracted directly or derived from individuals' affiliations. We then classified stakeholders using an adapted classification approach and developed an algorithm to prioritize their contributions towards the publication of these documents. Results Over 800 organizations contributed to 115 documents (41 policy reports, 11 legislative, 63 judicial). Discussions regarding national palliative care policy over the last two decades peaked in 2016. Stakeholder organizations contributing to national palliative care policy conversations throughout this period were classified into six types broadly representative of society. The ranking algorithm identified the top 200 prioritized stakeholder organizations. Conclusions Stakeholders from various societal sectors have contributed to national palliative care conversions over the past two decades; however, not all the stakeholder organizations engaged to the same extent. The information is useful when a need arises for increased collaboration between stakeholders and can be a starting point for developing more effective engagement strategies.

Automated summary

This analysis aims to collectively identify, classify, and prioritize stakeholders who have contributed to national palliative care policies in Canada over the past two decades. The results show that stakeholders from various societal sectors have played a role in national palliative care conversations, but not all organizations have engaged to the same extent. The information gathered can be useful for increasing collaboration between stakeholders and developing more effective engagement strategies.