June 22, 2026
12:00 to 1:00 p.m. ET | Online
Presented by  Lora VanBerlo, Director, Provincial Palliative Care Program, Ontario Health and 

Heather Vines, Senior Specialist, Provincial Palliative Care Program, Ontario Health

Description:

This session will explore how Ontario’s Provincial Framework for Palliative Care is being operationalized within long-term care (LTC) settings, and what this means for social work practice across the broader health system.

Participants will gain a practical understanding of how a palliative approach to care, focused on early identification, goals of care conversations, and interdisciplinary care planning is being integrated into LTC as a core model of care.

The session will highlight the critical role of social workers in supporting residents, families, and care teams through serious illness and end-of-life transitions, including facilitating goals of care conversations, addressing psychosocial needs, and strengthening continuity across settings by leveraging the The Ontario Palliative Care Competency Framework.

Attendees will leave with actionable insights on:

• Applying a palliative approach earlier in the disease trajectory
• Supporting goal-concordant care and preferred place of death
• Enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration and system navigation
• Advancing the unique contributions of social work within palliative care models

Presenter Bio:

Lora VanBerlo (she/her/elle) is the Director of the Provincial Palliative Care Program at Ontario Health, where she leads system-level strategy, planning, and implementation to improve access to high-quality palliative care across Ontario. Her work focuses on advancing integrated models of care across long-term care, home and community care, and hospital sectors, with an emphasis on early identification, equitable access, and enabling care aligned with patient goals and preferences. Lora collaborates closely with clinical leaders, health service providers, and system partners to operationalize Ontario’s Provincial Framework for Palliative Care and to strengthen interdisciplinary approaches to care delivery. Her work includes advancing initiatives such as palliative care education, clinical coaching, and system coordination across sectors.

Heather Vines (she/her/elle) is a Senior Specialist at Ontario Health. Her work focuses on advancing provincial palliative care initiatives by integrating implementation planning with education, evaluation, and system insights. As a Registered Social Worker with experience in long-term care, Heather brings a person-centred perspective to system-level implementation. She supports provincial and regional partners in advancing and operationalizing models of care including the development of reporting tools and analysis of program data. Her work contributes to measurement and evaluation efforts by generating insights that inform system planning and continuous improvement.

  Pricing:

• This event is free to everyone to attend

NOTE ABOUT REGISTRATION QUESTIONS:
OASW is committed to inclusion and promoting a diverse range of identities, experiences, perspectives, and voices across all areas of the Association. As such, the registration contains some optional questions that are intended to assist us to better understand our social work community and ensure that our work is reflective of the diverse membership of OASW and our profession.

Not a member?  Join OASW today