Authors
- Jeremy McKnight1,
- Claire Hepper1,
- Alison O'Neill1
- Shannon's Bridge1
2018
Excerpt
Jeremy McKnight is co-founder and director of Shannon’s Bridge after caring for his daughter, Shannon, who died at home in regional Victoria aged 19 in 2016. Shannon's Bridge is a volunteer-run charity that connects patients and families with palliative care services. They ‘bridge’ the physical and service gaps if no formal services exist to support end of life care in the preferred place of care. Shannon’s Bridge trains volunteers to provide practical help, arrange equipment to enable patients to remain at home, improve death literacy in the community and assist with advance care planning.
Dr Claire Hepper is a GP living and working in the regional Victorian town of Creswick where she was born. As a co-founder of Shannon’s Bridge Claire works as part of a team to help connect families with services to support end of life care in their preferred site of care. Volunteers are essential to community based palliative care and Claire would like to share some ideas and future direction for Shannon’s Bridge.
Abstract
Authors: Dr Claire Hepper; Jeremy McKnight; Dr Alison O'Neill
End of life care in Victoria is a confusing and changing landscape at the moment. Advance Care Directives were enshrined in law in March 2018 and the End of Life and Palliative Care Framework is being implemented by health services. But what does this actually mean for people living with a terminal illness?
Palliative care professionals across Victoria are exceptional, but like all health providers they are being asked to do more with less and they cannot always be as flexible in responding to needs as they would like to be. Care needs when someone is dying can be as variable as the people involved and the places they live in. Services readily available in one postcode are often unavailable to the next town over and access is often limited ‘after hours’.
Shannon’s Bridge combines formal health service knowledge with community energy to help people navigate the convoluted system to get the support they need where they are. Where gaps exist between formal health and informal support services, we work to ‘bridge’ them by training volunteers, education of carers and health professionals. Shannon’s Bridge recognises the amazing work already undertaken by volunteers across the State and we want to help strengthen local responses to local gaps.
Dr Claire Hepper is a GP living and working in the regional Victorian town of Creswick where she was born. As a co-founder of Shannon’s Bridge Claire works as part of a team to help connect families with services to support end of life care in their preferred site of care. Volunteers are essential to community based palliative care and Claire would like to share some ideas and future direction for Shannon’s Bridge.
Abstract
Authors: Dr Claire Hepper; Jeremy McKnight; Dr Alison O'Neill
End of life care in Victoria is a confusing and changing landscape at the moment. Advance Care Directives were enshrined in law in March 2018 and the End of Life and Palliative Care Framework is being implemented by health services. But what does this actually mean for people living with a terminal illness?
Palliative care professionals across Victoria are exceptional, but like all health providers they are being asked to do more with less and they cannot always be as flexible in responding to needs as they would like to be. Care needs when someone is dying can be as variable as the people involved and the places they live in. Services readily available in one postcode are often unavailable to the next town over and access is often limited ‘after hours’.
Shannon’s Bridge combines formal health service knowledge with community energy to help people navigate the convoluted system to get the support they need where they are. Where gaps exist between formal health and informal support services, we work to ‘bridge’ them by training volunteers, education of carers and health professionals. Shannon’s Bridge recognises the amazing work already undertaken by volunteers across the State and we want to help strengthen local responses to local gaps.