Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada: Catholic Health Care Perspectives

Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada: Catholic Health Care Perspectives

Presented by: Dr. Christopher De Bono, PhD, MDiv.

On September 21, 2017, 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm (CST)

(1:00 pm – 2:30 pm ET; 12:00 noon – 1:30 pm CT, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm MT; 10:00 am – 11:30 am PT)

Program Summary

What does Medical Assistance in Dying (aka Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide) look like in Canada? What does it mean for the Catholic Health Care community and beyond? This workshop will provide the critical historical context on MAiD. It will focus on the tensions as well as opportunities that MAiD represents in both acute and residential care settings.  Clinical, ethical and pastoral theological lenses will be brought to bear on the phenomenon.

Program Objectives

Participants will:

•   Learn what Medical Assistance in Dying means for Canadian Catholic health care in acute and residential care settings

•   Learn why Medical Assistance is dying is both a tension and an opportunity

•   Learn what practical steps a Catholic health system/Catholic sponsor can take in responding to Medical Assistance in Dying

•   Learn what Medical Assistance in Dying looks like in Canada.

Audiences

·         Leaders in all health care settings who seek to understand the Catholic ethical perspective

·         Religious leaders of all faiths

·         Catholic priests, religious, and lay people involved in all types of spiritual care

·         All CASC Spiritual Care Practitioners, Psycho-Spiritual Therapists, Spiritual Care Supervisors-Educators, and Psycho-Spiritual Therapist Supervisors who work with or treat Catholics

About the Presenter

Dr. Christopher De Bono, PhD, MDiv, is currently the Vice President of Mission, Ethics and Spirituality for Providence Health Care in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is a Roman Catholic pastoral/practical theologian with specialized clinical training in Spiritual Care and a post doc in Clinical/Organizational ethics. He has a history of over 15 years in frontline, middle and senior management roles in acute, community and mental health care. He has also taught as adjunct faculty and a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto (Emmanuel and St. Michael’s Colleges).

Committed to quality development in health care, he grew a spiritual care program by over 300% in a secular hospital at a time when most chaplaincy programs were being reduced. His PhD work considers the origins and future of clinical chaplaincy in mental health care in the context of Catholic sponsored health care. That PhD work was featured on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio show “Ideas” in 2013 because of its links to the late Fr. Henri Nouwen. [cf. Genius Born of Anguish]

His research foci include ethics and mental health, the ethics of clients choosing to live at risk, the meaning of “professional” ethics in clinical practice, narrative practice, spirituality/religion in clinical care, and end of life care, especially grief counselling.

Participants qualify for 2.0 CEHs total for the session (which includes 90 minutes for the webinar plus 30 minutes preparation time).

Cost is $20 early bird or $30 after September 2, 2017. The cost is per line, not per person, so this can be presented as an educational event.

To register online and pay by credit card, please visit the webinar page on our website by clicking on this LINK. If you prefer to pay by check, please complete the form on page 2 of the attached flyer and send it, along with your check made out to NACC to: National Association of Catholic Chaplains, 4915 S. Howell Avenue, Suite 501, Milwaukee, WI 53207.