Life and Death Matters President Tiara Sisson recently joined the EdUp Canada podcast for a thoughtful and timely conversation about the future of palliative care education in Canada. The episode shines a light on the urgent need to prepare PSWs, HCAs, and continuing care professionals with the skills, confidence, and emotional readiness required for real‑world palliative care.
Throughout the conversation, Tiara returns to a simple truth: excellent care begins with dignity. At one point she reflects, “Keep yourselves informed, because what’s the most important thing we can do? Respect human lives and provide people with their dignity when they’re having these challenges. And the thing is, it’s going to happen to all of us.” It’s a reminder that palliative care is not abstract, it is personal, universal, and deeply human.
The discussion also highlights the broader context shaping this work. Canada is moving toward a ratio of two workers for every retiree by 2035. This isn’t a distant projection; it’s a demographic shift already reshaping classrooms, care teams, and communities. Career colleges are on the front lines of this response, training the caregivers who will sit with people on the hardest days of their lives.
That’s why funding matters. When programs face cuts, whether through visa caps, reduced grants, or shifting policy environments, the impact is immediate. We don’t just lose students. We lose capacity. We lose readiness. We lose dignity at the bedside.
Tiara also speaks about the skills that truly define excellent care. When asked what the most important skill is for someone working in long‑term care, she doesn’t name a clinical procedure. She says:
“The most important thing they can learn is to be able to listen. Listen to the person whom they’re caring for and observe how what they’re doing is impacting that person and their families.”
This ability to listen, notice, and be present is what separates those who simply manage tasks from those who genuinely thrive in this field. And, as Tiara emphasises, these skills can be taught. They are being taught right now in career college programs across Canada.
That’s where Life and Death Matters enters the PSW curriculum. Module Nine introduces learners to the palliative approach, helping them integrate everything they’ve learned through a new lens.
“They take everything they’ve learned, and now they look at it through this lens, the lens of integrating a palliative approach. What we’re seeing is that it’s helping them understand their role in the overall scheme of things and giving them that foundation of confidence that they’ve committed to the right path.”
That confidence, the sense that they are ready, prepared, and entering a career that matters is the outcome every college wants for its graduates.
For more than 15 years, Life and Death Matters has partnered with colleges across Canada to bring palliative care principles directly into PSW, HCA, and continuing care training. The question for college leaders isn’t whether their students will encounter palliative care situations. They will. The real question is whether programs are preparing learners with the knowledge, emotional tools, and framework to show up well when that moment comes.
Tiara’s message is clear: stay informed, stay engaged, and if you have the power to shape what happens next, use it.
