CareSearch updates

The CareSearch team is currently recruiting palliative care academic and clinical educators for a multi-methods study exploring how they value and use clinical evidence in their teaching. It is hoped that findings from a series of questionnaires and interviews will give us a better picture of the contribution made by CareSearch’s recently redeveloped and updated evidence resources to sector education, training, and service provision. This Ethics-approved study will run across June and July, with findings expected later in 2025.

The CareSearch team had a strong presence at the recent European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) Conference held in Helsinki, Finland. Professor Jennifer Tieman, CareSearch Director, presented a poster showcasing our work in developing an impact framework for online palliative care resources - an initiative that is shaping how we define and measure the influence of the CareSearch website and its tools. A second poster, featuring a study on intergenerational co-residence in palliative care led by Dr Madeleine Juhrmann and Dr Raechel Damarell, was recognised as one of the top five posters of the conference. Team members returned with fresh insights and renewed energy for advancing palliative care research and practice.

This research aimed to assess the value of an online palliative care knowledge resource (CareSearch) and online palliative care information more broadly from the perspective of key stakeholder organisations. A pragmatic, qualitative analytical approach was used to examine the interviews. Five themes emerged: Access, Demographic and cultural milieu, Political, policy and systemic context, Role and utility of CareSearch, and Palliative and end-of-life care research and evidence base (Quality). Interviewees were emphatic that the provision of high-quality, open access online information about palliative care and end-of-life issues was ‘critically important’, particularly in view of the ageing of Australia’s population, consequent future growth in demand for palliative care services, and ongoing health and aged care workforce shortages.
The study was approved by the Flinders University Human Research Ethics Committee (Project ID: 5710)