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WINTER Lunch & Learn Series 2026


December 1 - December 3, 2026 

Tuesday - Thursday | 11:30am - 1:00pm PST

Access Matters: Practical Tools for More Accessible Hospice and Palliative Community Supports.

Join our upcoming 3 part interactive Winter Lunch & Learn series, designed for hospice leaders, staff, volunteers, healthcare providers, and community partners.

This practical series will explore tools and approaches to help organizations:

  • Make websites easier to navigate so individuals and families can find the services and supports they need.
  • Reduce language barriers through interpretation services and accessible communication tools.
  • Create more accessible documents, brochures, PDFs, and digital communications using familiar tools such as Canva.
  • Identify simple, affordable improvements that can be implemented within community-based hospice and palliative care organizations.
    REGISTER NOW!

    Access Matters: Practical Tools for More Accessible Hospice and Palliative Community Supports

    The BC Hospice Palliative Care Association (BCHPCA) is exploring the return of its Winter Lunch & Learn Series, bringing together three practical sessions focused on making community-based hospice and palliative care supports more accessible.

    Event Details

    • Dates: Tuesday, December 1 – Thursday, December 3, 2026
    • Time: 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. PST
    • Location: Online via Zoom
    • Workshop Focus

    Access Matters will explore practical tools and approaches that hospice societies can use to improve access to their services, information and community supports.

    Led by knowledgeable presenters with experience in accessibility, hospice care and digital communications, the series will explore website accessibility, language interpretation services, and accessible documents and communications.

    Participants will gain practical ideas, demonstrations and resources they can apply within their own organizations, including those working with limited staff, budgets and technical capacity.

    Why This Education Matters

    Accessibility is about more than physical spaces. It also means ensuring individuals and families can find services, communicate their needs, and understand the information and supports available to them.

    Through Access Matters, BCHPCA aims to help hospice societies identify achievable improvements that make their programs and communications more welcoming, inclusive and accessible to the communities they serve.

    Small changes can make a meaningful difference in how people access care and support.

    Presenters

    Day 1
    Tuesday, December 1, 2026

    Christie Collins
    Founder
    Rosemary Collective

    Website Accessibility: Making Your Hospice and Care Website Work for Everyone

    For many families and caregivers, a hospice and care website is their first point of contact when seeking information, support or reassurance.

    But how accessible is that experience?

    This practical session introduces the fundamentals of website accessibility, focusing on the unique needs of individuals and families accessing hospice and palliative care services.

    Participants will explore common accessibility barriers, learn how to recognize opportunities for improvement and discover practical changes that can make websites easier to navigate and understand.

    What you'll explore:

    • Website accessibility fundamentals and common barriers
    • Accessibility considerations specific to hospice organizations
    • Accessible images and alternative text
    • Practical improvements for smaller organizations with limited resources

    Day 2
    Wednesday, December 2, 2026

    Kathryn Wozny
    Director, Family Support Services
    Canuck Place Children's Hospice

    And Representatives from 



    Language Access as a Comfort Measure: Strengthening Equity, Communication and Compassionate Care

    Language is fundamental to comfort, dignity and connection, particularly when individuals and families are navigating serious illness, caregiving, grief and loss.

    This session explores language interpretation not simply as an administrative service, but as an important component of compassionate, equitable and high-quality care.

    Drawing on practical experience and interpretation expertise, participants will consider how language services can be introduced as a comfort measure and how hospice organizations can better support families facing language barriers.

    What you'll explore:

    • Language access as a dimension of compassionate care
    • Interpretation as a comfort measure
    • Practical language interpretation tools and services
    • Considerations for smaller and rural hospice organizations

    Day 3
    Thursday, December 3, 2026

    Christie Collins
    Founder
    Rosemary Collective

    Accessible Communications: Creating Documents and Resources Everyone Can Use

    Hospice societies create countless resources to support individuals, families, caregivers and communities. But are those materials accessible to everyone who needs them?

    This hands-on session explores practical ways to improve the accessibility of everyday communications, including documents, PDFs, brochures, infographics and Canva designs.

    Participants will learn how to create more accessible materials using familiar tools, recognize common accessibility barriers and make improvements without requiring specialized technical expertise.

    What you'll explore:

    • Creating accessible documents in Word and Google Docs
    • Understanding and improving PDF accessibility
    • Accessibility considerations when using Canva
    • Alternative text and accessible visual communications
    • A practical checklist for future materials


    Pay It Forward: Equitable Access to the Winter Lunch & Learn

    Why Equitable Access Matters

    Hospice palliative care is foundational, not peripheral, to our health system. Yet we know that many of the organizations doing this vital work operate with limited budgets, small teams, and stretched resources.

    We believe that financial barriers should never stand between a hospice society or non-profit and the learning, tools, and community they need to thrive. That's why we're offering a Pay It Forward option: if you're able to give a little more, you help ensure a colleague from an under-resourced organization can attend.

    How It Works

    • Standard Registration – Pay the regular registration rate and join us for the full series, you also get the recordings and handouts after!

    • Pay It Forward – Use the Pay It Forward button below to sponsor a seat for a hospice society or non-profit that cannot afford to attend.

    • Supported Access – Are you from a hospice society or small non-profit with limited funds? Apply for a sponsored seat, no one should miss out because of budget constraints.

    What Your Contribution Supports

    Every dollar donated to the Pay It Forward fund goes directly toward:

    • Covering or subsidizing registration for hospice societies and non-profits with limited operating budgets
    • Ensuring smaller and rural organizations across British Columbia and the Yukon have equal access to advocacy training
    • Sustaining a learning community where all hospice voices, regardless of organizational size or funding, can be heard

    Apply for Sponsored Access

    Are you part of a hospice society or non-profit that would benefit from attending but faces financial barriers? We want you in the room.

    BCHPCA is committed to amplifying hospice palliative care voices across British Columbia and the Yukon. No organization should be left out of conversations about equity, funding, and advocacy because of cost.

    To apply for a sponsored seat, please complete the form before and we will be in contact with you! Please note, BCHPCA members will receive priority access to sponsored seats. 

    Apply for Sponsored Access

    BCHPCA is dedicated to evolving into a more equitable and accessible organization, consistently offering inclusive and welcoming events, educational opportunities, and resources for everyone. If you're interested in our services and require accessible materials or financial assistance to participate, please email us at events@bchpca.org, and we will do our utmost to accommodate your needs.


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    About the association

    BCHPCA represents its members: individuals and organizations that deliver hospice/palliative care and bereavement services and programs across British Columbia and the Yukon Territory.

    Contact us

    Email: office@bchpca.org
    Main Line: (604) 267-7024
    Toll Free: 1-(877) 410-6297

    Unit 1100- 1200 West 73rd Ave,
    Vancouver, BC, V6P 6G5

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    The BC Hospice Palliative Care Association (BCHPCA) recognizes the traditional land of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples who have walked before us and minded the lands we now call home for time immemorial. Hospice Societies have been able to support, aid and care for many people on these same lands.

    The BCHPCA Offices are located on the ancestral, traditional, and unceded lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and TsleilWaututh Nations.


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