Author
- Ed Gaudoin1
- Bethesda Health Care Metropolitan Palliative Care Consultancy Service (MPaCCS)1
2018
Excerpt
Biography:
Ed Gaudoin- Clinical Nurse Manager, Metropolitan Palliative Care Consultancy Service (MPaCCS) Ed has a 15yr history working in Consultative Nursing Palliative Care positions across the acute, hospice, community and residential aged care sectors.
Ed works to optimise compassionate and competent palliative care especially within the aged care realm. Ed brings an energy and passion in his care of the dying and is driven to support, educate and collaborate with facility staff in providing excellent end of life care for the residents and their families
Introduction
35% of Australians die in residential care facilities. The quality of end of life care in these locations is often poor, resulting in suboptimal outcomes for residents, their carers and family, and staff.
The model of palliative care service provision for Perth published by the WA Department of Health in 2008 recommended the creation of ‘area health palliative teams’ to close acknowledged gaps in access to specialist palliative care for people in residential care.
MPaCCS is the result.
The aim of MPaCCS is to build the capacity of residential care facilities across Perth to provide quality care at the end of life.
Approach
The MPaCCS Empowerment Program is designed to promote consistent care processes, and includes:
Outcomes
Patient/carer outcomes for MPaCCS are reported by the Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration.
Access to services for people who die from conditions typically associated with residential care (eg dementia) can be measured by cross-referencing service activity levels against causes of death data.
Recent data show:
Discussion
There have been numerous attempts to improve end-of-life care in the residential care space. This setting is complex and requires solutions which are targeted, flexible and sustainable.
Conclusion
MPaCCS shows that investment by government in dynamic, responsive and flexible services can improve the quality of care and resident, family and staff outcomes in residential care settings
Ed Gaudoin- Clinical Nurse Manager, Metropolitan Palliative Care Consultancy Service (MPaCCS) Ed has a 15yr history working in Consultative Nursing Palliative Care positions across the acute, hospice, community and residential aged care sectors.
Ed works to optimise compassionate and competent palliative care especially within the aged care realm. Ed brings an energy and passion in his care of the dying and is driven to support, educate and collaborate with facility staff in providing excellent end of life care for the residents and their families
Introduction
35% of Australians die in residential care facilities. The quality of end of life care in these locations is often poor, resulting in suboptimal outcomes for residents, their carers and family, and staff.
The model of palliative care service provision for Perth published by the WA Department of Health in 2008 recommended the creation of ‘area health palliative teams’ to close acknowledged gaps in access to specialist palliative care for people in residential care.
MPaCCS is the result.
The aim of MPaCCS is to build the capacity of residential care facilities across Perth to provide quality care at the end of life.
Approach
The MPaCCS Empowerment Program is designed to promote consistent care processes, and includes:
- best practice patient-based education
- case-based training and mentoring
- policy and system-of-care review.
Outcomes
Patient/carer outcomes for MPaCCS are reported by the Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration.
Access to services for people who die from conditions typically associated with residential care (eg dementia) can be measured by cross-referencing service activity levels against causes of death data.
Recent data show:
- <5% of all MPaCCS episodes end because the patient is transferred to an acute hospital
- 75% of all MPaCCS patients have a non-cancer diagnosis
- 27.3% of all people in WA whose underlying cause of death was dementia were seen by MPaCCS in 2016.
Discussion
There have been numerous attempts to improve end-of-life care in the residential care space. This setting is complex and requires solutions which are targeted, flexible and sustainable.
Conclusion
MPaCCS shows that investment by government in dynamic, responsive and flexible services can improve the quality of care and resident, family and staff outcomes in residential care settings