Manitoba Palliative Care Research Unit

The mission of the Manitoba Palliative Care Research Unit (MPRCU) is to improve the quality of life and ease the suffering of people with life-limiting illnesses and their families through research on the many psychosocial challenges accompanying the end of life. Health practitioners, policy makers, patients, their families, and the general public benefit from the knowledge generated from our research.

Dignity Therapy Workshop

The Manitoba Palliative Care Research Unit is proud to present an intensive two-and-a-half-day Dignity Therapy training workshop led by Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov . The ultimate goal of Dignity Therapy is to help bolster the dignity of dying patients and address their suffering. This therapeutic intervention invites individuals with life-limiting illnesses to reflect on matters of importance to them. Using the Dignity Therapy protocol and following the respondent's cues, a trained therapist facilitates the process of disclosing thoughts, feelings, and memories that are compiled in a narrative document for the patient to share with a friend or loved one. The benefits of Dignity Therapy have been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and the Journal of Palliative Medicine.

This workshop will consist of a blend of lectures, small-group discussion, observation of Dignity Therapy in action, and hands-on opportunities for therapists to learn how to carry out this novel intervention.

For further details and/or to request a registration package, please contact us by email at mpcru@cancercare.mb.ca. Please note that registration will be limited to 40 participants and the final registration deadline will be May 1, 2010.

• To enquire about limited bursaries, please contact mpcru@cancercare.mb.ca

Registration information will be posted in the near future. Please check back for further details or contact us by e-mail at mpcru@cancercare.mb.ca.