Overview of the ComPAC project
A palliative approach to care provision for frail elderly Australians living in Residential Aged Care Facilities is considered the ‘gold standard’ for older residents requiring end-of-life care. The recently released Guidelines for a Palliative Approach in Residential Aged Care assist care providers in developing a palliative approach. However, only 7% of Australians over the age of 75 live in Residential Aged Care Facilities, with the majority of older Australians remaining in their own homes. It is therefore timely to consider the needs of this large group of older Australians, who may require end-of-life care in the community.
A research team headed by Associate Professor Chris Toye from Edith Cowan University, as well as researchers at Curtin University of Technology, Flinders University and Queensland University of Technology, have recently been contracted by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing to develop Guidelines for a Palliative Approach for Aged Care in the Community.
The project goal is to formulate evidence based guidelines for a palliative approach for older
people in the community setting that will help to facilitate best practice in this area. They will be aimed at enhancing the care provided by medical practitioners, nurses, allied health professionals, care workers, volunteers and Indigenous health workers in the community setting throughout Australia.
The guidelines will be developed in consultation with consumers and key stakeholders. Therefore, the project team will be looking to recruit interested people to be involved in the national consultative process. Focus groups will be held across Australia to identify issues relevant to the provision of a palliative approach in the community setting. Once the guidelines have been drafted, feedback will be requested.
Contributing to the guideline development
The Project Team is keen to have both health care providers and care recipients involved in the development of the guidelines. An open forum, ComPAC forum, has been set up to enable people from the community to provide comments about the project and about the guidelines as they are written.
There will be the opportunity for interested people to participate in the forum which will be held in each state and territory. For further enquires contact the Project Manager, Kristi Holloway, by emailing k.hollowayATecu.edu.au phone (08) 9845 1716 (To prevent SPAM mail, please replace AT with @ in the email address).
This page was created on 02 April 2007
Last updated on 03 October 2007
This page was ARCHIVED 14 April 2010