BC Hospice Palliative Care Association upcoming events

5th Annual Wildflower Bloom Campaign (Wednesday, April 01, 2026)

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 07:00:00 GMT

Celebrate compassion in bloom.

Each year, the BC Hospice Palliative Care Association invites communities across British Columbia and Yukon to participate in the Wildflower Bloom Campaign, a simple but meaningful way to honour the work of hospice societies and the volunteers who support compassionate end-of-life care in their communities.

By planting wildflowers, communities create visible reminders of the compassion, care, and connection that hospice volunteers bring to people and families during some of life’s most difficult moments.

Hospice societies across BC provide essential services including grief and bereavement support, caregiver support, palliative care services in home and community, and community outreach and education. Many of these services are made possible through the dedication of trained specialty trained volunteers and exceptional, compassionate staff.

Funds raised through the Wildflower Bloom Campaign support the BC Hospice Palliative Care Association in continuing its provincial advocacy work on behalf of the hospice and palliative care sector. Proceeds also help the Association provide practical support to hospice societies across BC and Yukon, including governance and operational guidance, training opportunities, website and communications development, and other resources, particularly for smaller and rural hospice organizations.

While April is the official campaign month, Wildflower Bloom items can be purchased throughout the year and make meaningful gifts to honour volunteers, remember loved ones, or recognize compassionate care in your community.

We invite individuals, families, and organizations to plant wildflowers in honour of hospice societies play in supporting compassionate communities.

Learn how to participate and access planting instructions here:

Wildflower Bloom Campaign Page

Reflective Writing for Caregivers: A Writing and Mindfulness Series (Wednesday, October 07, 2026)

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 18:00:00 GMT

Caregiving asks so much of you — your time, your energy, and your emotions. In the midst of supporting someone else, it can be difficult to find space for your own thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

Reflective Writing for Caregivers is a four-week series designed to create that space. Through guided writing, gentle mindfulness, and meaningful conversation, participants will have an opportunity to pause, reflect, and reconnect with themselves and others who understand the realities of caregiving.

No writing experience is needed. Writing is simply used as a tool to help participants process their experiences, gain clarity, and express what often goes unspoken. Sharing is always optional, and participants are encouraged to engage in ways that feel comfortable for them.

What to Expect

Over four weeks, participants will explore themes connected to the caregiving experience:

Week 1: Caregiver Identity, Resilience & Regrowth
When caregiving takes over, who are you underneath it all? Explore your caregiving story, the strengths you carry, and the parts of yourself that remain steady.

Week 2: Loneliness & Dis/Connection
Caregiving can be crowded and isolating at the same time. Explore the paradox of connection and loneliness, and consider how community, presence, and interdependence can coexist.

Week 3: Navigating Your Emotions
Caregiving can bring waves of emotions — including love, fear, resentment, hope, exhaustion, and tenderness. Through mindful reflection and storytelling, participants will practice naming and normalizing their emotional experiences without judgment.

Week 4: Finding and Reclaiming Your Voice
Caregiving can amplify your advocacy while sometimes silencing your own needs. This session explores agency, including speaking up within healthcare systems, honouring a patient’s voice, and reconnecting with your own.

This Program Offers Caregivers an Opportunity To:

Take a meaningful pause from the demands of caregiving, feel seen and supported within a community of peers, explore and make sense of complex emotions, and reconnect with their own voice, needs, and identity.

“It was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about narrative medicine and how reflective writing can help caregivers navigate and overcome some of the emotional and practical obstacles that come with the caregiving journey. The program created a compassionate and welcoming space for reflection, connection, and shared experiences. I truly appreciated the care and guidance that the program leaders brought to each session .”
— Mariya Y., program participant

Registration

For program details and registration, click below:

Registration Link

National Children's Hospice Palliative Care Day (Thursday, October 08, 2026)

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 07:00:00 GMT

Every child living with a serious illness deserves access to compassionate, high-quality hospice palliative care, and every family deserves to be supported throughout their journey.

The Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA), in partnership with Canada’s Pediatric Palliative Care Alliance, has launched the Short Lives Can’t Wait campaign to raise awareness of the urgent need for equitable access to children’s hospice palliative care across Canada.

2026 National Children’s Hospice Palliative Care Day

Covenant Health Palliative Care Education and Research Conference (Monday, October 19, 2026)

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

We support the advancement of palliative care knowledge through the Palliative Care Education and Research Conference. Learn about palliative care needs and enhance your knowledge of the practical aspects of palliative and end-of-life care. Explore current trends, issues and research with our invited guest experts and your colleagues.

Attend and get involved in discussions and learnings across a range of topics, during keynote presentations and breakout sessions.

Submit an abstract with the link below:

https://redcap.albertahealthservices.ca/surveys/?s=X3KMXMF98YDA9PFJ

Call for abstracts is now open

The call for abstracts is now open. Submissions are invited on the conference theme or on general palliative care topics in the following categories:

Back to Basics
Challenging Clinical Care Needs
Emerging Issues & Trends
Psychosocial, Spiritual & Wellness

Abstracts will be reviewed using the criteria below.

Review criteria used by the Abstract Committee

General criteria	Research abstracts	Program/Project abstracts
Conclusions are supported by results Relevance to conference theme Potential application of results Quality of writing	Key elements include background, methods, results, discussion and conclusion Methods, design, data collection and analysis is adequate	Key elements include objective, rationale, target audience and design Use of theory, prior research, best practice and available evidence