Don’t miss the opportunity to be part of this impactful event! Secure your space today and join us in shaping the future of culturally sensitive care and research.
The Nova Scotia Hospice Palliative Care Association is proud to present the NSHPCA Conference 2026, a two-day gathering dedicated to strengthening knowledge, collaboration, and innovation in palliative and end-of-life care. This year’s theme, Understanding the Palliative Approach and End of Life Care Across the Lifespan, brings together healthcare professionals, community organisations, researchers, caregivers, and people with lived experience to explore how compassionate, person-centred care can be delivered at every age and stage of life.
Hosted at the Best Western Bridgewater, the conference will feature expert speakers, interactive sessions, networking opportunities, and a renewed focus on improving palliative care across Nova Scotia.
We are pleased to share that NSHPCA Conference 2026 is now sold out. Thank you for the incredible interest and support. If you are still interested in attending, we are now maintaining a waitlist. To be added, please contact our team at conference@nshpca.ca or stay tuned for further details.
We invite you to partner with us as a sponsor for NSHPCA Conference 2026, a premier provincial event that brings together healthcare professionals, researchers, policy leaders, and community organizations committed to strengthening palliative and end-of-life care in Nova Scotia.
Centred on the theme “Understanding the Palliative Approach and End-of-Life Care Across the Lifespan,” this year’s conference will examine how palliative and end-of-life care principles apply across different ages, settings, and stages of illness, supporting individuals, families, and communities throughout the care journey. Your support will help advance meaningful dialogue, deepen understanding, and enhance the quality of care delivered across the province.
For more information, please contact Michael Kydd at mkydd@nshpca.ca.
| TIME | Session | Speaker | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 A.M. – 9:00 A.M. | Registration & Networking | — | — |
| 9:00 A.M. – 9:30 A.M. | Welcome & Opening Remarks | — | Main Room 1 |
| 9:30 A.M. – 10:30 A.M. | Opening Keynote: Helping Patients and Families Face a Serious Illness: 7 Keys for More Choice and Control | Dr. Sammy Winemaker | Main Room 1 |
| 10:30 A.M. – 10:45 A.M. | Refreshment Break & Networking | — | — |
| 10:45 A.M. – 11:45 A.M. | Honouring Young Voices: Pediatric Advance Care Planning in Action. | Lauren Hanes, Shauna Wilcox | Osprey Room 1 |
| 10:45 A.M. – 11:45 A.M. | Tli’suti Na Mpesun (Language is Medicine): Grief, Healing, and Empowerment | Keilidh (Kay-lee) Corkill | Whitetail Room 2 |
| 10:45 A.M. – 11:45 A.M. | When Palliative Care Becomes Collaborative: A Case Study in Dementia | Cynthia Sanche RN, CHPCN, Joanna Osborne, Jason Flinn | Cooks Falls Room 3 |
| 11:45 A.M. – 1:15 P.M. | Lunch, Exhibitor Booths & Networking | — | — |
| 1:15 P.M. – 2:15 P.M. | From Paper to Practice: Bringing the Palliative Approach to Care to Life | Sarah Manley, Dr. Cortney Smith | Osprey Room 1 |
| 1:15 P.M. – 2:15 P.M. | When Dying With Dignity Becomes Conditional: End-of-Life Care, Substance Use, and Structural Abandonment | Ashley Legere | Whitetail Room 2 |
| 1:15 P.M. – 2:15 P.M. | Growing Through Grief: A Family-Based Camp Model | Katy Chisholm, Linden Hardie | Cooks Falls Room 3 |
| 2:20 P.M. – 3:25 P.M. | Cultivating Compassionate Cultures: Team Lavender and the Wall of Hope - Caring for Caregivers Across the Lifespan | Rev. Dr. Debra Orton, Nicholas Swift, Alisha Webb, Alexandra Marcia | Osprey Room 1 |
| 2:20 P.M. – 2:50 P.M. | When the need to feed ceases: It feels hard because it is | Dr. Catherine Morley | Whitetail Room 2 |
| 2:20 P.M. – 2:50 P.M. | Listening to Young People on Childhood End-of-Life Care: A Participatory Approach to Pediatric Palliative and End-of-Life | Lauren Delaney | Cooks Falls Room 3 |
| 2:55 P.M. – 3:25 P.M. | Embodied Grief Support in Schools; What Movement, Animals and Connection Reveal About Healing After Loss | Ashley Fletcher | Cooks Falls Room 3 |
| 3:40 P.M. – 4:45 P.M. | Modern Death Movement: Bringing Death Home and Back Into the Conversation | Jessica Richardson | Osprey Room 1 |
| 3:40 P.M. – 4:45 P.M. | No Recess from Grief: Building Compassionate Schools in Nova Scotia | Dr. Mary Ellen Macdonald, Linden Hardie, Hannah Crouse, Amarens Matthiesen | Whitetail Room 2 |
| 3:40 P.M. – 4:10 P.M. | Comfort Tea…..Come For Tea: Drop-in Grief Support Gatherings in Rural Cape Breton | Stephen Anthony | Cooks Falls Room 3 |
| 4:15 P.M. – 4:45 P.M. | Stories of struggle and success: Using Qualitative Data to improve pediatric palliative care delivery in the Maritimes | Lauren Hanes | Cooks Falls Room 3 |
| 4:45 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. | Day 1 Wrap-Up | — | Main Room 1 |
Director Johanna Lunn takes audiences on a personal and thought-provoking journey into near-death experiences, deathbed visions, and the science of consciousness. Through conversations with leading clinicians and researchers—shared with humour and compassion—the film explores what may happen after death and how these insights can lessen fear, inform end-of-life choices, and help us live more fully.
| TIME | Session | Speaker | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:15 A.M. – 8:45 A.M. | Tea, Coffee & Networking | — | — |
| 8:45 A.M. – 9:45 A.M. | Embedding Personhood in Palliative, End-of-Life, and Intensive Care: Implementing the SELFY Tool | Dr. Mary Ellen Macdonald, Lisa McNeil-Campbell, Lynette Sawchuk, Dr. Anne Frances D’Intino | Main Room 1 |
| 8:45 A.M. – 9:45 A.M. | Grief Notes: Reducing isolation in grieving children & youth through virtual group song-writing | Linden Hardie, Meaghan Jackson (she/her), MA, RCT-C, MTA, FAMI | Cooks Falls Room 2 |
| 9:50 A.M. – 10:20 A.M. | Education for the End: Learning to Die in Place in Rural Nova Scotia | Emily Mansour-Hemlow | Main Room 1 |
| 9:50 A.M. – 10:20 A.M. | One size does not fit all: seeing children’s grief support differently | Angela Blenkhorne | Cooks Falls Room 2 |
| 10:25 A.M. – 10:55 A.M. | Eye Donation amongst Hospice Patients across Cultures | Paola Valli | Main Room 1 |
| 10:25 A.M. – 10:55 A.M. | Knowing, Waiting, Wondering: Anticipatory Grief for Families with Medical Complexities | Linden Hardie, Sarah Scott | Cooks Falls Room 2 |
| 10:55 A.M. – 11:10 A.M. | Refreshment Break | — | — |
| 11:10 A.M. – 12:10 P.M. | Closing Plenary: Integrating Palliative Care and Geriatrics: Challenges and Strategies | Dr. Patricia Caldeira | Best Western Room 1 |
| 12:10 P.M. – 12:30 P.M. | Closing Remarks & Thank You | — | Main Room 1 |
Director Johanna Lunn takes audiences on a personal and thought-provoking journey into near-death experiences, deathbed visions, and the science of consciousness. Through conversations with leading clinicians and researchers—shared with humour and compassion—the film explores what may happen after death and how these insights can lessen fear, inform end-of-life choices, and help us live more fully.
Enjoy access to everything you need at NSHPCA Conference 2026. Just follow the steps below.
Mobile app – for conference participants.
We invite organizations, service providers, innovators, and community partners to join us as exhibitors at NSHPCA Conference 2026 – an event that brings together professionals, researchers, healthcare leaders, and community advocates dedicated to improving palliative and end-of-life care across Nova Scotia.
This year’s conference theme, Understanding the Palliative Approach and End-of-Life Care Across the Lifespan, will explore how culture shapes the way individuals, families, and communities experience death, dying, and grief. Exhibitors play a vital role in this dialogue by showcasing programs, services, research, tools, and resources that support compassionate care at every stage of life.
As an exhibitor, you will have the opportunity to:
Whether you represent a healthcare organization, community-based program, educational institution, or wellness service, your presence helps enrich the learning environment and fosters stronger networks of care across the province. You can register as an exhibitor by clicking the Exhibitor tile on the conference landing page.
Don’t miss the opportunity to be part of this impactful event! Secure your space today and join us in shaping the future of culturally sensitive care and research.
Exhibit Space:
6’ table for promotional materials
Includes:
Lunch and refreshments for one exhibitor. Additional lunches can be purchased at an extra cost
For questions or additional information, please contact?
Beth Lynch
Program Director / Project Manager, NSHPCA
conference@nshpca.ca
782-321-9448
IMPORTANT DATES:
Submission Deadline: January 16, 2026
Notification of Acceptance: February 16, 2026
Presenter Confirmation Required: March 13, 2026
QUESTIONS?
Email: info@nshpca.ca
Phone: 782-321-9181
Marianne Arab
Provincial Manager of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care Cancer Care Program, NSHPCA Board Member
Tim Guest
Executive Director, NSHPCA
Laura Hicks
Cumberland Care Hospice Palliative Care Society, NSHPCA Board Member
Michael Kydd
Communications Director, NSHPCA
Paulette Levin
RN-AP, BScN, CHPCN(C) Palliative Care Home Consult Nurse, Interprofessional Practice Learning Leader Eastern Zone, Cape Breton
Beth Lynch
Director of Programs & Outreach, NSHPCA
Shelley Mann
Board Member South Shore Hospice Palliative Care Society and Chair of Education Committee
Kristian Suen, PhD
Community Relations and Research Lead
Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University
Zoe Zhang
Administrative Assistant & Database Coordinator, NSHPCA