Sector news

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCD) is an annual unified day of action to celebrate and support hospice and palliative care around the world. The WHPCD theme for 2022 is Healing Hearts and Communities. It reflects the experience of grief and the need to heal unites humans worldwide. More than six million deaths worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic has strained our communities, families and health systems.  Conflicts and wars taking place around the globe are also resulting in millions of families and caregivers grieving the deaths of family and friends, experiencing social isolation and property destruction. The World Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance has created toolkit to support the day.

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Catholic Health Australia has launched a new initiative,  I Am Living, to encourage Australians to have open and honest conversations and engage in timely planning for palliative and end-of-life care, dying, death, loss and grief. To learn more, visit iamliving.org.au

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The NSW state government has announced an additional $743 million in funding for palliative care across community and hospital settings. This is on top of current annual funding for palliative care of $300 million and will support a wide range of activities including development of dedicated palliative care units at Westmead Hospital and Nepean Hospital, support for virtual care, access to pain management services, and employment of health professionals and support staff.

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The number of Medicare-subsidised palliative care services received by Australians in their own home almost doubled between 2015–16 and 2019–20, according to a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).  The report, Palliative care services in Australia shows home visits for palliative care specialist services increased by an average of 18% annually over the 5-year period. Most palliative care services continue to be received in a hospital or surgery, with these services increasing by 12% over the same 5-year period.

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Australia’s prison population is growing and growing older. This is placing an increasing burden on the provision of palliative care in prisons. This brief highlights the significant gap in national data about all elements of palliative care need and provision in prisons, and describes how data collection could be improved through collaboratively designing palliative care data collection strategies, identifying nationally consistent data and health indicators about palliative care in prisons.

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Congratulations to the team at Anam Cara House Colac, a rural hospice located in western Victoria who have just been announced as winners of the International Association for Hospice & Palliative care (IAHPC) 2022 Institutional Recognition Awards – high income country category. See the IAHPC May newsletter for more or visit https://preview.mailerlite.com/g9h1f9q7n8

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This project will investigate the role of Death Doula in End-of-Life care in Australia. This project is supported by Flinders University, College of Nursing and Health Sciences under the auspices of the Flinders University Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying. This project aims to investigate the views and experiences of family or friends of people who have died and where a death doula has previously been engaged to provide support at least 3 to 6 months ago. Read more...

The Department of Health is conducting a market research project on palliative care. The experience of palliative care patients, their carers, and family is essential to ensure the healthcare workforce can respond to consumer demands. The results from this research project will directly inform future palliative care workforce communications and resources and ensure that more Australians understand their options for accessing quality palliative care.   Read more...

2022 National Carer Survey The data collected through this Survey will highlight the strengths of carers and also the challenges carers face in caring for a family member or friend. The results will also assist State and Territory Carer Organisations advocate for carers across Australia. You can complete the Survey online until 31 July 2022 at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2022NationalCarerSurvey Depending on your answers, the Survey should take between 20 to 30 minutes to... Read more...