HALIFAX: Sarah Scott and Terri Milton, of Nova Scotia’s Valley Hospice Foundation, were named the International Palliative Care Innovator of 2024.
They were competing against challengers from Harvard, John Hopkins Bayview, and others, at the Canadian Virtual Hospice’s 2024 Innovation Challenge held at the McGill International Palliative Care Congress in Montreal last week.
Their winning innovation, “Grief Library: Sending resources of healing to rural Nova Scotians” was one of six chosen, through a peer review process, from 57 submissions from 14 countries to compete in a “Dragon’s Den” style competition.
The finalists showcased their innovative work in palliative care to compete for the title of International Palliative Care Innovator of 2024.
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A panel of judges from Canada, the UK, and the US, decided the winner, with “Grief Library” ultimately taking home the title and the $1,000 CAN cash prize.
“Grief Library”, was launched to help meet the needs of grieving Nova Scotians who may have difficulty accessing adequate bereavement care due to poor internet connectivity and travel difficulties.
The library distributes books to support people who are grieving via a book-by-mail system, at no cost and with tremendous results.
“It is our deep hope that this project may help people living with loss to know that there is a community of care around them that grieves with them – no matter how isolated they feel they may be,” say Terri Milton and Sarah Scott.
“We hope that the ‘Grief Library’ will be a healing transformative force and foster enduring connection for Nova Scotians of all ages and backgrounds. Our Library may be called Grief, but it’s really about love.”
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“Terri and Sarah’s ‘Grief Library’ stood out among a highly competitive field of innovations from around the world. It is an outstanding example of a locally-driven solution making a real difference,” said Shelly Cory, Executive Director of the Canadian Virtual Hospice.
“We are thrilled that the $1,000 cash prize will be used to expand the books in the grief library and help more people in rural Nova Scotia.”
This year marks the third International Palliative Care Innovation Challenge which was launched to encourage, celebrate and amplify progress in palliative care.
