"One Green Care home that I just loved was kind of messy and untidy. You had the feeling that life was happening all around you, and it was busy enough that not everybody could tidy up entirely ... a little bit of what we did yesterday, reminding us today of what we did yesterday, which actually with dementia is a very good idea.

And the woman who had initiated it identified that the culture had three elements to it: One was 'do with, not for'. Two was 'joy and purpose every day'. And the third one was 'live till you die.'

Five years after her husband's death, Fay Martin visited Green Care Farms in the Netherlands, a non-medical residential setting for people in fifth stage of dementia.

The visit ignited a recognition and an articulation of the principles that governed how she had cared for her husband as he slid into dementia.

It also helped to explain why his dementia 'wasn't that bad', why it lacked many of the behaviours that we believe to be inherent in the disease. She now wears more confidently the role of author of her soon-to-be-launched book, Dementia Widow, a memoir about love, death and survival.

Learn more about Fay and her work: https://www.faymartin.ca/

Learn more about the Strengthening a Palliative Approach to Long-Term Care project at: https://spaltc.ca/

"Stories in Motion are a way to give the unspoken a voice. Because so often with the people I'm working with, they've not had that voice...but if we can put it into a story, if we can put it into a world where anything can happen and people can say anything, then those unspoken thoughts, feelings get transposed and transformed into something for the person who creates, and for the person who receives it."

Learn more about Stories in Motion: https://www.thecreativecocoon.com/

As a registered expressive arts practitioner, Fay Wilkinson is passionate about stories, both hers and others. Known as a storycatcher, Fay works with people who have life shortening illnesses, mental health challenges, and dementia. Their stories are co-created into a metaphorical story using traditional and digital formats, an offering known as Stories in Motion.

Learn more about the Strengthening a Palliative Approach to Long-Term Care project at: https://spaltc.ca/

"If I had one wish of what the healthcare system knew about end of life doulas, it would be that if you embed end of life doulas into your healthcare settings, not as healthcare professionals, but as social emotional supports that their job would be a lot easier. People would be aware of advanced care plans, and people would be aware of actually just thinking through what they want. Families would be more educated, so families would be calmer and more understanding, and they would know what the death process looked like... together we could really help each other."

Jennifer Mallmes has worked as a caregiver and advocate for quality end of life care in Canada for over 25 years. She has worked extensively in community home care, finding deep purpose in supporting individuals to remain at home as they near the end of life. Jennifer is the co-founder of the End of Life Doula Association of Canada, and the creator and lead instructor of both the End of life Doula program and the Indigenous End of Life Guide program at Douglas College. Jennifer's passion is rooted in the belief that all individuals should have the right to self-determination in their end of life care. Through her work, she strives to ensure that people are empowered to consciously live and die with dignity, choice, and compassion.

Douglas College End of Life Doula program

End of Life Doula Association of Canada

Learn more about the Strengthening a Palliative Approach to Long-Term Care project at: https://spaltc.ca/