BIPOC are policed, and punished more than non-BIPOC while receiving less support while receiving less support.

Studies found that BIPOC patients are regularly discriminated against by the health care system.

Systemic neglect can lead to chronic stress and trauma, intensifying grief for BIPOC families.

This post was co-authored by Suliana Beraki and Robert T. Muller, Ph.D.

My sister's experience of terminal illness was shaped by many factors: pain, communication, disregard, fear, and advocacy. These often overshadowed the person at the center of it all—her. The urgency to advocate for better end-of-life care consumed what little time we had left together. It was a painful reminder that care is sometimes determined by race rather than illness.

Michelle Regnier, a registered social worker and cancer survivor working with the Wellspring Cancer Support Foundation, comments, “Some people want to make peace before passing. But too often, people and their families are forced into advocacy just to be heard.”

Canada’s reputation is that of a nation that promotes equality for all, but this ideal doesn’t hold true, particularly for Black and Indigenous people of colour (BIPOC). BIPOC are both hyper-visible and invisible in the face of systemic barriers. This means being surveilled, policed, or........

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