- cbc.ca/news/health/features/a-good-death/
- cbc.ca/video/#/News/Health/A_Good_Death/1908984234/ID=1935945547
- cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/05/04/f-milestogo-pediatric-palliative-homecare.html
- cbc.ca/news/health/story/2011/05/03/f-milestogo-music-therapy-legacy.html
Provide names of other journalists involved.
Adela Talbot, Sean Leathong, Alex Ballingal, Heather Young, Jared Lindzon, Nicole Case, Lauren Pelley, Angela Richardson, Brian Moskowitz, Fan-Yee Suen, Heather Evans, Dave Mills, Wendie Crouch, Janet Thomson, Trevor Melanson, Stefanie Massoti, Ed von Aderkas
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
May 11– May 19 2011
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
A Good Death explores what makes a good end-of-life journey, how attitudes and practices are evolving, and what changes are needed to put palliative care on the public agenda. It also exposes a lack of national policies and funding for palliative care in Canada that has resulted in a failure to meet the needs of the dying in this country.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
The students set up a shared online workspace on Evernote where they posted thousands of documents, each filed in notebooks according to topic. We chose Evernote because it has the capacity to perform keyword searches of all documents on the workspace. Each student was responsible for combing through the health and medical literature on various data bases accessible to them through our university library system. They were each required to post a minimum 15 research studies along with a brief critique of the strength and weaknesses of each study. There were over 300 such studies and critiques posted to our site. Research reports were also accessed and posted to our site from Statistics Canada and other governmental and non-governmental agencies. The students searched Lexus Nexus for journalistic coverage of end-of-life care and also posted those stories. Transcripts of all interviews conducted by the students, along with video and audio of the interviews, were posted–about 150 interviews in total. We also had many experts come and speak to the students. Each of their presentations was recorded, transcribed and posted.
Explain types of human sources used.
The largest palliative care unit in our city, at Parkwood Hospital, made themselves completely accessible to our students. The students even sat in on morning meetings where the status of each patient was reviewed. Staff (from physicians and nurses to pharmacist) made themselves available for interviews and informal chats. The students also interviewed patients and family members who agreed to participate in our series. Palliative care physicians at five additional hospitals and hospices around Ontario also opened their doors to our students and helped facilities contact with their patients. Ad, over a dozen experts, from all areas of end-of-life research, volunteered to be on-call as experts if the students needed anything explained or clarified for them. Beyond these key participants, students found people and stories right across the country.
Results:
Millions of people around the world have visited our site. Respected health care journals have written editorials about it, as have publications for professional health care organizations and various end-of-life and bereavement support groups. A Good Death is now being used as an educational and training tool for practitioners and families in North America and the UK. Dr. Lawrence Librach, head of the Palliative Care Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, says the series “had great play among our patients and the Canadian public. It made people think about how the system might change.” Dr. Sharon Baker, a palliative care physician at London’s University Hospital, believes that “This series takes the public to a place they try not to visit but they need to go.” According to Paul Cavanagh, Director of the South West End-of-Life Care Network, “A Good Death injects an important perspective into the fractious debate on assisted suicide that has recently resurfaced [with a Supreme Court of Canada case about to be heard on the issue].”
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
We did not make any corrections or clarifications; all response was positive.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Take the time to make the emotional connections to the people in the story. The research and production of this series took five months.