Disrupting Death

“ I'm not sure what my hopes are. I hope we learn how to die well, and that doesn't mean dying efficiently. It means deep dying infused with wonder and mystery and waiting in the unknown.” This month, Kathy and Keri-Lyn are excited to discuss spirituality, mortality, and exits with David Maginley. David Maginley is a Canadian psychospiritual specialist, educator, and award-winning author with over...

This month's episode is a double interview with three Albertans: in part 1 we speak with Dr. Stacy Hume about her father and his unfulfilled choice of MAiD at end of life. In part 2, Dr. Tracy Powell and Tania Stilson share updates about Bill 18 and its implications for Alberta and the rest of the country. 

“So I think it's on all of us to hold multiple truths at once, to respect autonomy, but also advocate for the conditions that make autonomy meaningful for people, and to ensure that when we talk about death, we're actually equally committed to talking about life.” Kathy and Keri-Lyn are very pleased and privileged to be sitting down with Dr. Naheed Dosani, to talk about dignity, equity, and why he...

 But for a lot of people, especially my patients, and I'm not just talking about MAiD, I'm talking about in life in general, the concept of autonomy is highly limited by what is actually available to them, right? So in terms of what are my options for life might be very different for what my patients' options are. This month, Kathy and Keri-Lyn are grateful to sit down with Dr. Ramona Coelho to ta...

“And through both experiences, what became clear to me is that systems do not only determine access to death, they shape how families are able to show up for one another before and after it.” Kathy and Keri-Lyn are privileged to share this special February episode in which guest Cindy Lang recounts her story of the important work she does and the loss of two beloved people in her family.  Cindy J....

 ”And so, in my perfect world, over the next decade, we would … really dwell in the grey a little bit more and be honest with one another about how we're making sense of this, about what we feel comfortable with, what we don't feel comfortable with. Because if you can't have those conversations, everything ends up on one side of the divide or the other, and we go forward in a polarised manner.” In...

“I think if the exhibit is able to motivate a conversation between someone and another person in their life about what their wishes might be I think we will have succeeded.”  December has Kathy and Keri-Lyn excited to be sitting down to chat about palliative and end-of-life research and exhibits with Dr. Sarina Isenberg, Chair in Mixed Methods Palliative Care Research at Bruyère Research Institute...

“People should be allowed to be authors of their own lives to make decisions for themselves if they have the capacity to do and having doctors say, or having the government say we don't think you're actually, able or qualified to make this decision. You need our approval. I think that's ethically unjustified.” In this episode, Kathy and Keri-Lyn wax philosophical with Eric Mathison, PhD, contempla...

“ It's brought some hope that maybe it'll be different for the generation, the young disabled girl who's just getting the diagnosis today will be able to see a few examples anyway out there of somebody who had a life and who got to live and thrive.” Dear listeners, this month Kathy and Keri-Lyn are privileged to share a conversation with April Hubbard, a performer, arts administrator, accessibilit...

 Grief matters because it happens to all of us.  In this episode, Kathy and Keri-Lyn are fortunate to converse with Drs. Susan Cadell and Mary Ellen Macdonald, co-creators of Grief Matters, a Canadian organization that aims to improve how people understand and make room for grief, using creative, community-based activities. They use the framework of ‘grief literacy’ to increase knowledge, skills,...

“ She's in her favourite chair. She's surrounded by loved ones. She's got a supportive GP. There's love and laughter, and I can't imagine anything better for the very final moments of your life. And I have to just say I'm just really thankful, one, to be a Canadian and that she has this option, but also that I had the opportunity to be there and that our family got to have these really beautiful f...

“ Ignorance is not a safeguard.”  In this episode, a very fortunate Kathy and Keri-Lyn sit down with Dr. James Downar, a Critical Care and Palliative Care physician in Ottawa, for a conversation about the data around MAiD and access to palliative care.   Dr. Downar graduated from McGill Medical School and completed residency training in Internal Medicine, Critical Care and Palliative Care at the U...

 In the context of any kind of illness, whether it's the child's illness, a family member's illness, somebody's sudden death or MAiD, if we recognise that children have these rights to access information and to express themselves, it's very hard to justify not giving them a choice about having information. In this episode, Kathy and Keri-Lyn have the great pleasure and privilege of speaking with C...

This month’s episode of Disrupting Death has Kathy and Keri-Lyn have the pleasure of speaking with Paul Magennis, a Registered Nurse and educator on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in British Columbia and co-creator of MAiD in Canada, a Substack newsletter that tackles misinformation and promotes education about medical assistance in dying.  With over seven years of experience in MAiD, Paul has...

 ”I think we need to know that the possibilities are out there, that MAiD's not just a medical procedure, that even though this healthcare professional is coming with their kit and their medications and all of their social authority that they bring with them, that we get to slow it down and do some important things to remember our person.” This month, Kathy and Keri-Lyn have the pleasure and privi...

“When we're brought into this world more often than not … there's all this love coming for birthing in a human being to this world, right? And I felt like that same kind of energy  was given to them on their way out.” This month, your hosts of Disrupting Death sit down with Chris Reid, a storyteller, military veteran, and founder of Stretch Creative, about his experiences in 2024 when two very imp...

This month, Kathy and Keri-Lyn are very excited and privileged to explore the issue of mature minors in relation to MAiD legislation with Dr. Sydney Campbell, PhD. Sydney Campbell is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University, having recently completed her PhD in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto wherein she generat...

This month’s episode of Disrupting Death has Kathy and Keri-Lyn speaking with Dr. Christine Gibson, aka TikTokTraumaDoc, about her experiences with MAiD and her book, The Modern Trauma Tool Kit.  A Family Medicine physician with academic expertise in medical education and holistic care, with twenty years of clinical experience. Through extensive additional specialty training, has become a local an...

In this episode of Disrupting Death, Kathy and Keri-Lyn have the distinct pleasure of speaking with Marney Thompson, Director of Bereavement Services at Victoria Hospice and an executive member of the Canadian Grief Alliance, and Robin Farr, of the MAID Family Support Society, about MAiD grief and bereavement around the holidays.   Marney Thompson is the Director of Bereavement Services at Victori...

  In this episode of Disrupting Death, Kathy and Keri-Lyn lean in to learn from Dr. Konia Trouton, BSc MD CCFP MPH FCFP, about the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers (CAMAP) [https://camapcanada.ca/] and providing MAiD in non-medical settings.  Dr. Trouton is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Practice at UBC, and a Clinical Lecturer in the Department of Family and...

In this episode of Disrupting Death, Kathy and Keri-Lyn have the privilege of learning about the role of the Office of the Chief Coroner in medical assistance in dying (MAiD) from Dr. Dirk Huyer, Chief Coroner for Ontario since March of 2014. Dr. Huyer received his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1986. He has served as a coroner in Ontario since 1992, serving as Regional Supervisi...

In this episode of Disrupting Death, Kathy and Keri chat with Dr. Julia Brassolotto about rural healthcare challenges and how media shapes our perceptions. Don't miss this insightful conversation!  Julia Brassolotto is an Associate Professor in the Public Health program at the University of Lethbridge. She is a qualitative researcher and a social scientist. Her research program looks at care for o...

In part two of this three-part episode, we sit down with Dr. Mike Lang, the lead facilitator of the two digital storytelling workshops. We also hear from six participants who created digital stories about their experiences accompanying someone on their MAiD journey. These participants were recruited by Bridge C-14, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting families and loved ones through e...

In the final part of this three-part episode, hosts Kathy and Keri speak with Krystle Scofield and Maureen Leier, facilitators of the digital story workshops. We also hear from six participants who created digital stories about their experiences accompanying someone on their MAiD journey. These participants were recruited by MAID Family Support Society, a not-for-profit corporation and charity tha...

In part one of this three-part episode of Disrupting Death, hosts Kathy and Keri have the honour of sharing information about their research in medical assistance in dying, a component of which is digital storytelling, and Keri sits down with Diane Sims, the project’s only (to date) participant who herself has opted for MAiD. Please consider viewing Diane's digital story entitled "MAiD: A Servant...