About Life and Death Matters

Dr. Jessie Johnson is the Dean of Nursing at Beal University in Canada, bringing over 25 years of dedicated clinical and academic experience to the role. With a career spanning acute care, long-term care, and community health settings, Dr. Johnson has cultivated a deep expertise in nursing practice and education. Her research interests focus on palliative care, health literacy, and interprofessional education, areas in which she has contributed valuable insights to enhance patient care and healthcare collaboration. Dr. Johnson’s commitment to advancing the field of nursing through both research and mentorship continues to inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals at Beal University Canada.

Dr. Johnson’s impact isn’t limited to Canadian borders. Her global outlook is evident in her experience teaching overseas and her ongoing collaborations with international counterparts. Notably, she recently founded the Palliative Care Network in Qatar, showcasing her commitment to improving end-of-life care on a global scale.

Coby is a hospice palliative care nurse. She is interested in nursing education and scholarship in the context of hospice palliative care. She is inspired in practice by the study of nursing theory and philosophy and by the example of the LDM team. She is an associate teaching professor at the University of Victoria, School of Nursing and staff nurse at the Victoria Hospice community urgent response team. Coby brings to LDM her thoughtful ponderings, her questions, and her years of clinical experience in palliative care.

Coby and Kath have become ocean-swimming partners – and for both Coby and Kath, swimming in the ocean, all year long, offers wonderful ways of communing and healing.

Pippa has a busy clinical, academic and administrative practice based in Vancouver. As head of the UBC Division of Palliative Care and Medical Leader for the BC Cancer Pain and Symptom Management/Palliative Care Program, she is also involved in a number of regional, national and international initiatives, including early integration of palliative care into disease management, management of severe cancer pain, and use of medical cannabis extracts for symptom control.

At LDM we are incredibly grateful for Pippa’s medical input, insights, wisdom, and editing in the development of all of our resources.

When Pippa is not working, her loves include sailing, hiking, and playing with the young ones in her life.

Courtney is a passionate advocate for those needing and receiving compassionate, whole person centered care.  Every single day She strives to provide the softest journey possible from admission to Hospice through to the end of the disease process.

Courtney is often told that She is known for her kind and caring personality and for the encouragement and overall support that she gives to others.

She loves to learn and share knowledge with others about palliative care, including new staff at my workplace and college students finishing their PSW placement hours.

In her personal time, Courtney loves spending time with her family and her dog.  Writing poetry and studying mindfulness are some of Her favourite ways to practice self care.

Myke has dedicated the past ten years to hospice palliative care as a Personal Support Worker. He currently serves at Hospice Georgian Triangle in Collingwood while residing in the rural village of Clarksburg. Known for his calming presence, Myke advocates strongly for both patients and peers, taking pride in the daily support he provides to individuals and their families in a residential hospice. He is honored to join the advisory committee of Life and Death Matters.

With nearly two decades of service to the Campbell River community, Karena has delivered long-term, transitional, respite, home, and hospice care rooted in dignity, autonomy, and quality of life. As Director of Evergreen Seniors Home, she champions person-centred practices and pushes to modernize outdated systems—proudly acting as “the pebble in the shoe” when change is overdue.

Both supporters and skeptics, along with her family and mentors, have shaped Karena into the determined advocate she is today, continually driving compassionate, forward-thinking elder and end-of-life care.

Sheila is a Gitxsan nursing scholar. She has over 32 years of nursing experience ranging from acute care to rural health, Indigenous and occupational health nursing. Her research, curricula and practice development is focused on improving wholistic health outcomes of Indigenous peoples and the quality of nursing work environments, focusing on the relationship of organizational workplace structures and processes to horizontal workplace bullying and incivility among Registered nurses. In research she has explored the role of oppression embedded within organizational structures, policies, factors, and the effects on nursing leadership and new graduate nurses’ experiences of incivility. The findings arm health care administrators with the information to change work processes and policies to improve the quality of nursing practice environments for nursing leaders and new graduate nurses.

She developed an interdisciplinary indigenous health course and an Indigenous nursing practice course for Thompson Rivers University. She is a Board of Director for the First Nations Health Authority and was recently appointed by the Minister of Health to the provincial In Plain Sight task force where she is working to change health care legislation and to inform changes to accreditation of health professional schools and universities.

Sheila also loves being fully immersed in nature.

Krystal Allen is a Licensed Practical Nurse with more than ten years of clinical experience and an additional 14 years in caregiving. Committed to community well-being, she helps connect individuals and families with high-quality educational resources, including those developed by Life and Death Matters.

Having observed the organization’s growth firsthand, Krystal now serves on its advisory committee, contributing her clinical insight and passion for health education to advance LDM’s mission.

Geoff is a Registered Psychotherapist (Ontario) and a Registered Clinical Counsellor (B.C.) with 35 years of experience in providing therapy and support to individuals, groups, and workplaces.

While completing research with cancer patients during the M.A. program, Geoff developed a strong interest in helping individuals and families cope with the stress of illness, and focused on reducing anxiety and finding meaning in life.

He specializes in providing support to caregivers as well as to individuals who are coping with illness and end-of-life care, as well as comprehensive grief and bereavement support.

Geoff also has a keen interest in promoting well-being through talk therapy, mindfulness practice and the reduction of anxiety for various life circumstance and transition.  He supports well-being in the 2SLGBTQ+ community and specialize in issues unique to men.  Geoff has facilitated mindfulness based stress reduction classes for individuals living with H.I.V, cancer and general everyday stress.