CareSearch updates

One of the important roles for the CareSearch project is ensuring the ongoing currency of content and its continuing relevance for the intended audiences. In the last three months we have been strategically updating resources to take into account new resources, recent evidence, and changing care contexts. Completed updates include:

• Refresh of Digital Health
• Review of Finding Services and Supports pages
• Updates from aged care reform agenda for the Older Australia pages

2025 has seen communities and systems acknowledging the increasing need and demand for palliative care and care at the end of life. This year has seen significant policy and practice changes relating to aged care, unpaid carers, incentives for general practices, and a rapidly changing digital and data ecosystem. CareSearch continues to work with palliative care providers and services to support their care for people as they deal with the realities of death and dying. We also acknowledge the contribution made by families and carers, as well as neighbours, social networks, communities and support organisations, in enabling care for people as they come to the end of their life.

We have completed a study on the role and value of the Clinical Evidence Summaries that were completely reviewed and updated in 2024. This work showed the value of evidence in training, in practice and in decision-making.  We updated a children’s booklist that can help start a conversation about life, grief, death and loss. We continue to work with other projects to increase reach and impact including palliAGED, CarerHelp, ELDAC, Palliative Care Connect, TEL, End-of-Life Essentials, and The Advance Project.

As Christmas approaches, we hope that you find time for yourself and the people who are important to you. We look forward to continuing to support the palliative care sector in 2026.

CareSearch has developed a GP Kit that is designed to support care planning, assessment and communication for patients coming to the end of their life and their families. GPs can find this a demanding but needed area of their practice. The information kit provides practical tool and resources to assist them in providing compassionate and comprehensive care as well. The Kit also highlights practical resources they can share with their patients and their carers. GPs can order a printed version of the Kit or download the resources from the CareSearch GP Kit page within the GP Hub

We’re delighted to update our children’s booklist we developed as part of Dying2Learn. We now have two lists. One looks at International Award-Winning Children’s Books and Resources on Death and Dying (1.06MB pdf) while the other focuses on Australian Children’s Books on Death and Dying (2.47MB pdf). A great way to help children understand or start a conversation about life, death, grief and loss.

Copies of the CareSearch presentations made by members of team have now been loaded to the CareSearch presentations page.

You can view the following presentations that were made: