Palliative Care Services - CAN/HSO 13001:2026 (E)
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About This Standard
CAN/HSO 13001:2026 (E) Palliative Care Services is a new edition of CAN/HSO 13001:2020 (E) Palliative Care Services.
CAN/HSO 13001:2026 (E) Palliative Care Services is based on findings from literature reviews, clinical expertise, evidence-informed practices, and those with lived experiences. The published evidence used to inform this standard can be found in the bibliography. Gender-responsiveness informed inclusive Technical Committee recruitment, evidence synthesis, and integration of equity, diversity, and cultural safety principles (see Annex A) throughout the development of the standard.
This standard provides evidence-informed guidance for delivering safe, equitable, comprehensive, people-centred, and high-quality palliative care services to people of all ages with serious illness. The target audiences for the use of this standard include organizational leaders and teams within health and social service organizations providing palliative care services.
The content of this standard is structured into the following sections:
- Service Design
- Client Rights and Equitable Intake
- Comprehensive Assessments and Care Planning
- Care Coordination
- End-of-Life Palliative Care
- Team-Based Care
- Continuous Quality Improvement
This standard is intended to be used as part of a conformity assessment. This standard will undergo periodic maintenance. HSO will review and publish this standard on a schedule not to exceed five years from the date of publication.
Scope
Purpose
The purpose of this standard is to provide evidence-informed guidance for delivering safe, equitable, comprehensive, people-centred, and high-quality palliative care services to clients and care partners. This standard provides guidance on improving quality of life, reducing physical and psychological symptoms, supporting care partners, and helping clients experience a peaceful and dignified death. This standard emphasizes the role of
clients and care partners in care planning throughout the continuum of care.
Applicability
This standard specifies requirements for all populations, all ages, and all settings offering palliative care services. This standard targets people of all ages with serious illness requiring palliative care services, including adult and pediatric populations. This standard applies to all settings offering generalist or specialist palliative care services, including hospitals, paramedicine, hospice residences, and home- and community-based care settings such as primary health care and long-term care settings.
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