Opening a recent article in The Walrus, Kevin Patterson evoked the Nanaimo of a few decades ago. What he described sounds in many ways rougher than what you might picture today. A resource economy in decline, unemployment passing twelve per cent, and jokes about Hell’s Angels and Nanaimo Bars seeming not too far from reality. […]

Catching up with Carmen Lavoie about Vancouver Island University’s end of life doula course, which made its debut this past September. Lavoie also spoke about the taboo around discussing death, and shared tips on how to have conversations about the end of life process. “Death and dying, those words can be very helpful,” she said. […]

Kelsie Kilawna shares the story behind a new kit meant to help Indigenous communities in crisis navigate interactions with the media.

Ian Bushfield and Sophie Burke join People First Radio to explore an end of life guide they’ve co-authored for humanists and non religious people.

Many people spoke emotionally about experiences with addiction and recovery at a recent public hearing in Parksville. At issue is a proposed addiction treatment centre, which would be run by Island Health, and offer a voluntary only 90 day treatment program for people aged 19 and over. There would be 19 beds at the site, […]

From overcoming challenges like experiencing homelessness as a youth in Thunder Bay, to learning about traditional plant medicines and family history from her grandfather, Chrystal Toop shares some of the journey that led her to start Blackbird Medicines, a cultural wellness program where she now supports Indigenous people training to be end of life doulas. […]

When People First Radio first took to the airwaves on November 22 2007, Jan Coleman was there. She served as co-host with Kevin Midbo through 2010, and helped guide the program through its early years. Jan passed away recently, and People First Radio took some time to remember her impact on the show. Former host […]

Death educator and Nipissing University professor Susan Srigley starts her semesters off by having students reflect on their personal experiences with death. “The majority of those assignments tell a story of students who have not been supported around death, have not been prepared for death, and largely their experience is one of isolation and silence,” […]

Health historian Matthew Smith says that relatively speaking, many governments are doing less to address mental health than they were decades ago, and until that changes, state health providers will never be able to keep up. In a recent article published in the conversation, the University of Strathclyde professor pointed to poverty and inequality as […]

When she was 32 years old, Tara Sidhoo Fraser had a stroke, and experienced the loss of most of her memories. She’s written about her recovery in the weeks, months, and years that followed in a new memoir, When My Ghost Sings. Sidhoo Fraser says sharing her story has created an outpouring of connection. “I […]