Palliative care in Canada: The economic perspective

The main purpose of this study is to provide policy makers, policy analysts and other groups with information regarding the economic burden of personally borne costs (also called private or personal costs) attributable to the palliation phase of care and the context in which they occur in five selected regions across Canada. In order to do so, this study comprises four specific objectives: 1) Identify and measure resource utilisation (goods and services) during the palliative phase of care; 2) Estimate their costs; 3) Identify who delivers these goods and services (public health care system, families, private for profit and non profit, voluntary sector); 4) Determine who (patient, informal caregiver, government, volunteer organisations, etc.) pays for what. The research is mainly composed of a one-year prospective survey which will be carried out with 250 families looking after a terminally ill patient and participating in a regional palliative care program in five regions of Canada. The current research project proposes providing relevant information, and accurate data, to support palliative care and social policy development in Canada.