Canada needs to improve palliative care

Canada needs to improve palliative care.

That's according to Harold Albrecht, member of parliament for Kitchener-Conestoga, who tells 570News that the Parliamentary Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care was put in place to move forward on issues of palliative care, suicide prevention and elder abuse.

"What we're trying to do is raise awareness on all three of these issues but then obviously to have governments, different levels of government, take action to actually move the markers ahead."

Albrecht says that too often people nearing the end of their lives are left in hospitals with medical care only.

"When in fact what many of them prefer is to be cared for either in their own homes, or in a facility closer to home, perhaps a long term care facility."

Albrecht says that the goal of the committee is to get the Federal government to implement some of their recommendations such as allowing care givers a tax credit to take time off work.