Developing skills - resources

For everyone

• The Australian Government Department offers a program of experience in the palliative approach (PEPA). To build on your capacity in delivering person and culture-centred care PEPA offer two separate workshops that can be attended either individually or both in addition to. PEPA provide a unique opportunity of a supervised observational placement (two to five days) that is intended for you to incorporate the palliative care principles that you have learned into your day to day practice. They also offer a reverse placement which involves a specialist palliative care staff member travelling to your workplace to facilitate learning.
• To understand more about experiential learning to increase palliative care competence among the indigenous workforce, read this article.
• For more courses in palliative care, visit the CareSearch education section which has a range of courses for health professionals, eLearning, for care workers, carers and volunteers and workforce development. Also visit the CareSearch short courses section where you will find a range of courses that run nationally and are continuously enrolling.
• For those that wishing to learn more about palliative care within the aged care context, visit palliAGED. This website offers a range of evidence and practice information resources for the Australian aged care sector. The information is trustworthy and aims to support health and care practitioners as well as resource developers. Visit the training and education section to see a range of courses available.
• The Healing Centre for Griefology offer a Bi-Cultural awareness, safety and inclusion program that aims to enhance service provider’s bi-cultural awareness and confidence. Their aim is to assist others to create a culturally safe environment and improve access to mainstream services in the absence of Aboriginal organisations.
• If you would like to learn more about diverse population groups, End of Life Directions for Aged Care (ELDAC) provide a good overview of various diverse population groups. They give particular consideration to diversity consideration in the context of palliative care.
• The ELDAC Linkages Toolkit is a tool that can be used to integrate services between aged, primary and palliative care. This resource places the individual at the centre of care and guides you to plan, do, check and act. There are various resources available to create the best possible palliative care and advance care planning services for older people in your care, with some focused on revising your services to continuously improve.
• An important part of palliative care is spiritual care. Spiritual Health Association offers professional development opportunities. They aim to educate others on the integration of evidence-based spiritual care in providing holistic care.

Reports:

• The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare website features Reports on palliative care services in Australia.
• Palliative Care Australia: National Palliative Care Standards outline nine palliative care standards to support the delivery of high quality palliative care.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

• The Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has developed a Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA). There are many workshops available including two specific to health professionals providing palliative care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. IPEPA is part of this program which aims to break down the barriers to palliative care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia. It facilitates a two-way learning process that prepares mainstream and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals to deliver high quality, holistic, culturally responsive palliative care.
• The CareSearch website has various resources and information to help the health care workforce and carers in providing palliative care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
• To find resources for each health profession relating to the five capabilities (respect, communication, safety and quality, reflection, advocacy) of the refreshed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework visit HealthInfoNet: Cultural safety for health professionals.
• The palliative care curriculum for undergraduates has learning resources for those caring for Aboriginal populations. Visit Palliative Care Curriculum for Undergraduates (PCC4U): Caring for Australian Indigenous peoples affected by life-limiting illness: Communication section to learn more.
• See the palliAGED tip sheets for care workers and nurses to learn more about communication with First Australians.
• To watch videos about cultural competence and cultural safety in the emergency setting, see the Indigenous health and cultural competency program.
• Life in Mind provides information relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and their priority for suicide prevention in Australia. Visit their website to learn more about best practice guidelines and social and emotional wellbeing and mental health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia.

Care leavers

• The Healing Foundation Working with the stolen generation: understanding trauma factsheet (1.54MB pdf) provides information for GPs to improve services. It is highlighted that this factsheet is a starting point to understanding the diversity among Stolen Generation survivors.
• Altura Learning Care leavers in Aged Care course delves into the issues faced by older people entering aged care facilities who were raised in institutions or foster homes. It identifies strategies to address their needs.
• Forgotten Australians supporting survivors of institutional and out of home care (3.50MB pdf) is a booklet that intends to inform health professionals and service providers about the long term trauma faced by forgotten Australians and help them to relate to those experiencing this trauma.

Cultural and linguistically diverse people

• To learn more about people who are culturally and linguistically diverse, visit the CareSearch: Multicultural health professional page. If you would like to read more about the CALD community within the context of palliative care and death and dying, visit the ELDAC: Australia’s ageing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse population section.
• The Life in Mind CALD section provides information about the link between the CALD population and suicide. They suggest that consideration should be given to the diversity of CALD people as their identity may overlap with other communities such as LGBTI people, young people, older people.
• The Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing: Practice guides provide information for direct service provision. While individual consumer needs must be considered, these guides offer useful practical information around accessing interpreters, communication, food and nutrition, digital inclusion and many more.

Training resources:

• PCC4U: Topic 4 Culture-centred care offers a module that will help you to understand culture in caring for people with a life limiting illness and apply the principles of culture centred care.
• To enhance your communication skills visit the palliAGED website where you can find a tip sheet for care workers and for nurses.
• Partners in Culturally Appropriate Care (PICAC) offers a range of workshops, training, information sessions, fact sheets and guides that help aged care service providers to deliver care that meets the needs of CALD people.
• For a range of online training resources visit the Centre for Cultural Diversity in Ageing: Training and Professional Development section. There may be a fee for the courses.
• Multicultural Aged Care offers training in culture in aging. This is a free course and takes a full day.

Homelessness

• The Homeless Palliative Care Toolkit is a set of resources designed for health professionals working with people who are homeless to use to recognise deterioration and help to get access to and plan person centred care.

Intellectual disability

• For a framework and resources for delivering tailored, quality palliative care for people with intellectual disability in Australia, check out the Tailored model of palliative care for people with intellectual disability from UNSW. There are toolkits for health professionals and for people with intellectual disability and their supporters.
• To develop your skills in talking end of life to people with intellectual disability use the online toolkit provided by Talking End of Life: online toolkit.
• To hear a real story of a person with intellectual disability who experienced his father die and the impact of poor communication and education on his experience, visit the University of Hertfordshire- when my dad died.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex

• To improve your awareness of the need for inclusion in the aged care sector, watch this educational video from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing LGBTI: Inclusion and Awareness in aged care.
• If you would like to improve your understanding of inclusive practice and access training in LGBTI in aging and family violence, access Rainbow Health: Training Programs. To learn more about Rainbow Health Australia, visit Rainbow Health Australia: Supporting LGBTIQ health and well-being. They also offer a resource library that can be used by organisations and individuals to develop services that are LGBTIQ inclusive.
• Here are some useful resources that can help you to understand inclusive practice:
• Department of Health and Ageing:  National LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Strategy (3.93MB pdf)
• Latrobe University - GLHV:  Beyond ‘we treat everyone the same’ (560kb pdf)
• InterAction for Health and Human Rights
• Dementia Support Australia and LGBTIQ+ Health Australia: LGBTI and Dementia - Understanding changes in behaviour (4.93MB pdf)
• CareSearch: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex, Queer and Asexual (LGBTIQ+).

Older people

Training and development:

• ACON: Pride training is an online module designed to educate aged care staff on providing an LGBTI inclusive service.
• At the palliAGED: Improving care section you will find evidence-based tools and resources that can help you.
• To learn more about collecting a life story from older adults living in long term care, the Quality Palliative Care in Long Term Care Alliance (QPC-LTC) Social History document (1.67MB pdf) will help you.
• Use this guide to understand the barriers to care faced by those living alone with dementia. Being well supported at home with dementia can help facilitate patient choice of dying in place. Living alone with dementia - research to practice guide (948kb pdf).

Resources:

• LGBTIQ+ Health Australia: Silver Rainbow: Ageing and Aged Care.
• Dementia Support Australia and LGBTIQ+ Health Australia: LGBTI and Dementia - Understanding changes in behaviour (4.93MB pdf).

Rural and remote areas

• If you are an allied health professional and are looking into establishing practice in the rural and remote setting, Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health (SARRAH) offer an online Practice Foundations course that consists of modules to help with the transition.
• Life in Mind provides information relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and their priority for suicide prevention in Australia. Visit their website to learn more about best practice guidelines and social and emotional wellbeing and mental health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia.
• Mental health training is available for health professionals working in drought and bush fire affected remote communities through CRANA Plus. Their resources include webinars, podcasts, resources and workshops.

Veterans

• To access resources that are relevant to people working with veterans who have mental health issues and training programs, visit Phoenix Australia.