Compassionate Communities Endorsement
The primary community development work happening globally within public health palliative care is known as Compassionate Communities. In some countries, these initiatives are called Caring Communities.
PHPCI has developed the Compassionate Communities Endorsement program to continue supporting this community development work. Read below to learn more about the program and how to participate.
What is the Compassionate Communities endorsement?
This program will provide Compassionate Community initiatives with a PHPCI Compassionate Communities logo, which they can use to show their participation in the movement. You can give this logo to local governments, workplaces, and other organizations that want to display it to show their involvement in the local initiative. By participating in this program, you will explore how to increase your community's support capacity. PHPCI endorsement team will review this data and share resources or knowledge to support your capacity-building goals.
Who can participate?
This opportunity is for anyone who is working to increase their community's capacity to support members who are caregiving, experiencing a serious illness, dying and/or grieving. This capacity-building work can start small with a program and build into a community-wide initiative.
PHPCI's definition of a Compassionate Community*
A collective of people who are working together to actively support those members who are caregiving, dealing with serious health issues, dying and/or grieving. These people are passionate about strengthening the capacity within their community to support those navigating these experiences.
Cities, neighbourhoods, villages, workplaces, places of education, religious groups, online gaming communities, and more are examples of where an initiative can occur.
We recognize that each Compassionate Communities initiative may adopt unique approaches but that all Compassionate Communities embrace common guiding principles and features to guide the work.
Common Principles
Members of a Compassionate Community recognize that:
● Experiences of serious health challenges, caregiving, dying, and grieving are a part of everyone's journey through life and that they can happen at any time.
● Care for one another through these experiences is not a task solely for professionals but rather that everyone can participate.
● They must work towards equity, celebrate diversity, and be inclusive of all people.
Common features
-The initiatives are led by the community, for the community, in the community.
-Community members, groups, and organizations collaborate to set priorities for the initiative, develop a plan of action, and pool existing community resources to implement agreed-upon actions.
-The members share co-leadership responsibilities.
-The initiative's activities are delivered in the community, where those dealing with these experiences live, unlike programs and services delivered primarily in clinical care environments.
Examples of approaches to creating a Compassionate Community include the Compassionate City Charter, Age-Friendly and/or Dementia-Friendly communities, and more.
*Public Health Palliative Care International's definition of Compassionate Communities was adapted from the Canadian definition, co-developed by Pallium Canada, BC Centre for Palliative Care and Hospice Palliative Care Ontario.
How the endorsement works
Complete the application form so we can learn more about the work, how you engage the community and your overarching goals. PHPCI council will review your application. Based on your level of engagement within the community and the growth and sustainability of the initiative, you will receive a logo that matches one of the following levels described below.
PHPCI's Compassionate Communities Endorsement levels
Emerging - these initiatives are just beginning and are focused on creating awareness of the initiative through community and stakeholder engagement activities.
Building - these initiatives are organized, raise awareness in the community, and actively engage the community in a program or event.
Leading - these initiatives have existed for a few years, with strong community participation and programs or events showing a positive impact. Additionally, the initiative has a program or activity optimal for spreading and scaling within the community.