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The views and opinions expressed in our blog series are those of the authors and are not necessarily supported by CareSearch, Flinders University and/or the Australian Government Department of Health.
Discussions about CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) are difficult because they confront the person with death. However, when cardiac arrest occurs there is no time to ponder the pros and cons of CPR or to discuss this with the person’s substitute medical treatment decision-maker. Dr Barbara Hayes, Clinical Lead in Advance Care Planning and Palliative Care Consultant at Northern Health, discusses the importance of increasing awareness of CPR decision-making prior to acute illness and why discussions and decisions are a necessary part of medical treatment planning.
Preparing and planning for quality symptom management and palliative care should be a priority in the management of COVID-19 in residential aged care facilities. Kim Offner, Project Officer at ELDAC, discusses the lessons learnt and the practical recommendations from the Palliative Care and COVID-19 webinars which the project recently hosted.
Advance care planning (ACP) is one of the main topics that callers to the ELDAC Helpline call for assistance with. Caroline Litster, Research Officer from ELDAC, discusses the type of ACP inquiries received, and how the Helpline team assist callers with navigating the more complex concerns around ACP in aged care, such as those relating to residents who lack decision-making capacity.
Australia has a diverse older population and it is important for those caring for older Australians to have access to evidence-based resources to ensure quality care is delivered to all older people, regardless of their specific background and preferences. Dr Georgia Rowley, Research Associate at ELDAC discusses the importance of understanding specific considerations when caring for older diverse Australians in an end of life context, and how ELDAC can provide resources to help.
It is estimated that 11% of the older Australian population are of diverse sexualities or genders (often referred to by using the acronyms LGBT, LGBTI or LGBTQ), yet we often do not see and celebrate our diverse older people. Claire Allen, National Program Manager of Pride of Health + Wellbeing discusses why older Australians who identify as LGBT are not a visible part of the community and ideas for aged care services to welcome and support them.