The Fundamentals of Hospice Palliative Care (FHPCE) is an 8-week course offered by the North Simcoe Muskoka Hospice Palliative Care Network (NSMHPCN). While designed primarily for health care professionals and other disciplines involved with caring for individuals at the end of their life, I believe this course would be valuable to everyone.

As the course went through the stages of a terminal illness, I found I learned a lot about myself every step of the way.

Getting involved with the NSMHPCN also opened my eyes to what a precious resource Hospice Simcoe is in our community. It is truly a home away from home for people with terminal illness and their families. I didn’t appreciate it fully until one of my friends was admitted.

As I went through the journey with my friend and her family, I watched as they created friendships with other families going through the same thing. Just like at home, groups would sit around with a beer and watch the hockey game, and put together potluck meals and snacks.

Pets are as welcome as other members of the family (as long as their vaccinations are up to date). There are concerts (some of the staff are accomplished performers!) and other events, as well as specialized treatments like reflexology, reiki and massage.

Visit the Hospice Simcoe website or Facebook page to learn more about their valuable work in our community.

Winter 2014 Palliative Care Conference

The annual winter conference of the North Simcoe Muskoka Hospice Palliative Care Network (NSMHPCN) is coming up on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 at the Grandview Golf Club in Huntsville. The theme is “Consent, Capacity & Compassion Fatigue.”

I’ll be there as an exhibitor in my role as the owner of Brabary, but I’ll also be there as a participant. I always find the sessions incredibly informative and helpful, and the tools I learn there I can relate back to all areas of my life and business.

I first started attending back when I met someone who was involved in putting on the conference. Her mother was in town and needed a prosthesis, so they found their way to us at Brabary. She suggested we get involved with the conference, since so many health care professionals aren’t aware of the options for their patients – and other people in their lives who may need prostheses.

This upcoming event got me thinking about all the different resources that are out there for people who are going through a cancer journey, such as Gilda’s Club (emotional and social support), Canadian Cancer Society (rides to treatment and lots of information), or retail stores like ours that provide products and personalized fittings and support.

Click here for a registration form for the conference.

Personal Post from Jane DeCola, Owner of Brabary

I recently became involved in the Barrie chapter of 100 Women Who Care and it has been such a rewarding experience already. We meet four times a year, and each woman or group of women donate $100 at each meeting ($400 total for the whole year). When that money is pooled together it makes a real difference to a local charity.

Any member can nominate a charity, and then three charities are randomly chosen to present at each meeting. If the charity you recommended was chosen for the short list, you give a brief presentation to the group about why you think it should receive the money. Then the group votes to come up with a winner.

In August we voted to support the Children’s Aid Foundation with two special projects: sponsoring 17 children and three social workers to travel to Africa on life-changing experience, and sending a number of children to camp for a week in the summer.

In September we raised $7,000.00 and our funds went towards The Barrie Food Bank to provide nutritional snacks to school age children in the community.

The business networking and social connections are happy by-products of the main purpose of the group, which is to pool together our small contributions to make a huge impact in our local community.

Part of our vision at Brabary is to give women a sense of empowerment and confidence. Being part of this group of local women who get together to support a common cause helps me fulfill this vision.

If you’re interested in joining 100 Women Who Care in Barrie, visit their website today at http://www.100whocarebarrie.ca/. I’ll see you there!