Walking with People – Equity in Palliative Care in Grey & Bruce
Scope
Impact film production | Documentary storytelling | Stakeholder and patient interviews | Multi-location production | Aerial cinematography | Referral video
Overview
Working with the Improving Equity in Access to Palliative Care (IEAPC) Working Group and Grey Bruce Ontario Health Team, we developed an impact film exploring a community-based approach to improving access to palliative care for people who are unhoused, vulnerably housed, Indigenous, or otherwise experiencing barriers to traditional healthcare.
At the centre of the story is palliative care navigator Kait Dickinson, whose work connects people with healthcare, community services and practical supports while helping them navigate a system that can be particularly difficult to access without stable housing, transportation, a phone or family support. The film places her work within a larger network of community paramedicine, Indigenous health services, outreach organizations and palliative care providers.
Creative Roles
I served as producer and director, following the project across Grey and Bruce over several months. Production included interviews with patients and family members, the palliative care navigator, community paramedicine and outreach providers, alongside Dr. Naheed Dosani, whose PEACH work provides important context for equity-oriented palliative care and health navigation.
Rather than relying solely on sit-down interviews, we documented the work where it happens: Kait travelling throughout the region and meeting with clients, community paramedics providing mobile care, outreach services operating within community spaces, and an IEAPC gathering on the land with Indigenous partners. We also documented a provincial palliative care conference where Dr. Dosani delivered the keynote.
Approach
The film was built around the idea of meeting people where they are—both literally and within the healthcare system.
That meant allowing lived experience to lead the story. Patient and family voices provide its emotional foundation, while Kait, community paramedicine and other partners demonstrate what equitable care looks like in practice: building trust, coordinating appointments, addressing transportation and basic needs, advocating within healthcare settings and creating continuity between services.
Dr. Dosani’s perspective helps place the local work within a broader evolution in palliative care—one that considers social need alongside diagnosis and prognosis, and recognizes navigation as an increasingly important bridge to care.
Outcome
Walking with People – Equity in Palliative Care in Grey & Bruce brings together lived experience, frontline care and system-level insight to demonstrate both the impact of the navigator role and the importance of sustained, equity-oriented palliative care in rural communities.
The finished film provides the IEAPC partners with a storytelling and advocacy tool to build awareness of the model, demonstrate its early impact and support conversations around the continued development and sustainability of this work. A companion referral-focused video was also developed to introduce Kait’s role and help healthcare and community partners better understand when and how navigation can support the people they serve.