"Sometimes people can really shut down and the horses can get in there and reach in and welcome them back to being present. The horses are gifted. It's all them."

Jennifer Semach is the founding Executive Director and program facilitator of Walkabout Farm Therapeutic Riding Association, a charitable organization in Minden, Ontario that offers free mental and physical health services on 100 acres of land with the help of therapeutic support animals: horses, cats, and rabbits. She also brings miniature horses to visit residents and their families in long-term care.

Equine therapy promotes the physical, neurological, and emotional well -being of all through human and animal interactions.

Learn more about Walkabout Farm: https://walkaboutfarmtra.com/

Learn more about the Strengthening a Palliative Approach to Long-Term Care project at: https://spaltc.ca/

"You don't know what's going wrong. And you have all these theories, but it's a long time before dementia is one of the hypotheses..."

Fay Martin is a retired social worker who lives in Haliburton County, a small rural community in Ontario. She cared for her husband, who had dementia, until his death in 202. He died with - but not of - dementia, sparing them the ravages of the later stages of that disease. Nevertheless, it knocked their lives sideways.

Learn more about the Strengthening a Palliative Approach to Long-Term Care project at: https://spaltc.ca/

What is person-centered care and how does it contribute to a 'good' death? We spoke with Kristen Lew-Byrne, a registered social worker who talked to us about patient-centered care, and how social workers work with team members, residents and families to help achieve a good death means for each individual.

Kristen Lew-Byrne is a registered social worker who has worked alongside and supported residents and their families within long-term care for 11 years. She works from a holistic person-centered approach, which consists of intersecting psychosocial pieces and needs. Kristen is passionate about taking an ongoing palliative approach and redefining end of life care and what a good death can look like for residents in long-term care.

Learn more about the Strengthening a Palliative Approach to Long-Term Care project at: https://spaltc.ca/