Survival of the Kindest Dr Julian Abel

For this episode of Survival of the Kindest, we welcome Christian Ntizimira, who has been doing remarkable work in Rwanda, developing palliative care through making use of the most precious of resources, the community. He is the Founder and Executive Director of the African Centre for Research on End of Life Care. A Fulbright Alumni who graduated from Harvard Medical School his career includes time at Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, City Cancer Challenge Foundation, and the Rwanda Palliative Care and Hospice Organization (RPCHO).  He has recently published a fantastic book on communication with families in the context of end of life, called The Safari Concept.

Charlie Herzog Young is a climate activist and  author of Spinning Out, his new book, which explores his journey  navigating climate change and mental health issues which affected him from his early years onward. Charlie makes the explicit what many of us experience, that of nihilistic feelings about the inevitable progression of climate breakdown. And not just this. The nihilism is worsened by those in power who place self interest above the welfare of everyone else, including plants and animals. This sense of depression about the world ended up precipitating a mental health crisis, resulting in a serious suicide attempt, which in itelsf resulted in a double amputation of his legs. Charlie has found an answer in climate activism in multiple forms, including his excellent new book.

104 - This week’s Survival of the Kindest podcast features Camila Ronderos. Camila learnt about the importance of community from  her father, who was a doctor visiting people in rural Colombia. He would visit people in the fields and in their homes, making sure that he took care of them in the widest sense. She started her studies in architecture but changed to anthropology as she felt architecture often missed the point, not designing buildings for people to live in taking their perspective to heart. This led her to a masters degree and studying for a PhD in New York. Along the way, she got side tracked into a dream job working for a non profit organisation back in Colombia. This led her to her current work in the healthcare setting for the Keralty Foundation.
Camila has the most incredible understanding of participatory processes, which began with her studies of participatory urban development.

Shawn Wilson is an Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia. His book, Research is Ceremony, Indigenous Research Methods, is one of my favourites. As we have discussed previously on Survival of the Kindest, indigenous ways of knowing and being offer a lot, stressing the importance of interdependence, relationsional accountability and kinship not just with the people around us but with everything. It is a harmonious and very integrated way of living. Our actions have consequences everywhere and this is increasingly obvious as we watch the impact of environmental destruction. Research has a really important role to play in understanding how this all fits together. Limited rationalistic scientific research methods are not suitable to be able to describe this complexity and Shawnin his book, demonstrates how indigenous research methods are more appropriate in providing a much broader, more expansive view.

Dr. Kelli Stajduhar, RN, PhD, FCAHS is a professor in the School of Nursing and a research fellow at the Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health at the University of Victoria and research affiliate with Island Health.
 
Kelli has been a champion of equity in palliative care. Her interest in this developed in her time working as a community nurse with HIV positive patients. She understood directly through her experience that simply providing a service is not enough. People and the social and physical environments in which they live are the contexts in which help and support can be given. Failure to do this in the contact of marginalised communities further excludes them, making worse their sense of marginalisation.
 
She has worked in oncology, palliative care, and gerontology for almost 30 years as a practicing nurse, educator, and researcher.
 
Kelli has over 285 academic publications and presentations. She is lead investigator on multiple research projects including international research collaboratives on family caregiving; projects evaluating the integration of a palliative approach in acute and residential care settings, and national studies on access to end-of-life care for structurally vulnerable populations and care experiences of caregivers providing palliative care in the home.
 

101: Tammy McGrath - It takes a community approach for end-of-life journey
"A Wongatha, Ngadju, Mirning  Yamitji, Woman from the Goldfields, proud Mum, Nanna, Daughter, Sister Aunty, Cousin, Friend, Colleague, Connector. I’ve been living on Noongar Boodjar (Country) more than I’ve lived on my own. I’ve been blessed and guided by my Noongar Elders, Ancestors to walk their Country live, work respect and to tread softly on this spiritual journey.
To encourage ALL people, Aboriginal, clinicians alike, to talk about palliative care. If we demystify the barriers of palliative care early, we can improve access to the appropriate services. By working together to inspire mob, in their communities to yarn, plan, prepare.
By building strong relationships with stakeholders, working in partnership with as many services to help close gaps, identify any issue to collaborate seamless care for patients and their families. It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a community approach for end-of-life journey.
I believe in equity for everyone, and everyone should have access to a Deadly (Good) death if I can help to empower, educate, and advocate for my people my mob, on being prepared in charge of their end-of-life journey to how they’d like their story to go then I’ve achieved more than I could have ever wishes for." - Tammy McGrath