Canadian Virtual Hospice Award in Support of Palliative Care – Excellence in Psychosocial Oncology

In collaboration with CAPO, the Canadian Virtual Hospice has established an award to acknowledge the exemplary work of psychosocial oncology professionals and students.

The purpose of this award is to promote progress in research, education and clinical practice in the area of palliative care and grief and the dissemination of information related to the psychosocial care. It is given to support oncology professionals in continuing education activities.

This annual award will be presented to a CAPO member who submits the best poster in the area of palliative care and grief at the annual CAPO conference. The presentation may reflect clinical practice, education or research.

The award will consist of a $500.00 honorarium to be used to support the recipient’s continuing education. A recognition certificate will also be presented at the annual CAPO conference.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Must be a current CAPO member in good standing. The award is open to all classes of CAPO members.
  
• The member must attend the conference to be eligible.
  
• Must have submitted a conference abstract in year being awarded:
  
• • The abstract cannot be sponsored by a commercial organization, nor can it promote a commercial product or advertise a specific program.
  • The abstract will have a focus in psychosocial palliative clinical practice, research or education.
  • The abstract may be in the format of a poster presentation.
• The winner(s) must agree to have their name(s) released as winner(s) of the award.
  
• The successful recipient(s) must advise the Canadian Virtual Hospice in writing outlining how the award has been utilized to improve their practice; and will provide a PDF version of their poster for posting on the Canadian Virtual Hospice within 30 days of receipt of the award.
  

Evaluation & Processes

• Entries are selected based on a search for key words submitted during the abstract submission process, then verified for CAPO membership status. Judges will be notified of entries meeting this criteria prior to evaluation.
  
• Under the direction of the Award’s Committee Chair, a subcommittee will judge all submitted abstracts at the conference to select the recipient according to pre-specified criteria developed by the awards committee.
  
• The Awards Committee reserves the right to not award the prize in any given year if suitable abstracts meeting the criteria are not found.
  
• This award is presented annually. If more than one person submits the selected abstract, the award will go to the first submitting author unless CAPO has been notified by the submitting author that one of the other authors will be the presenter, in which case the award will be given to the presenting author. The recipient must be a member of CAPO.
  

Congratulations to the 2023 award winner Sarah Alonzi - Mortality-Focused Language of Palliative Care Descriptions and Clinician Willingness to Recommend the Service

Past Winners

• 2022 – Jacob Lang
• 2020 – Sarah Rose Black and Rickinder Sethi
• 2019 – Cheryl Nekolaichuk, Covenant Health/University of Alberta
• 2018 – Sabrina Gaon, Mount Sinai Hospital
• 2017 – Marianne Arab