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Read palliative care news and events around Australia. Please note that the links below were current at the time of posting, however links may become obsolete as websites update their content.
Palliative Care Australia has produced a video to support health professionals in facilitating culturally safe advance care planning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The Discussing Choices – Indigenous Advance Care Plans features the Groote Eylandt community and highlights learnings and tips to conduct culturally sensitive discussions around advance care planning and end-of-life.
May 23 - 29 is National Palliative Care Week, an event led by Palliative Care Australia (PCA) that aims to raise awareness about the many benefits of quality palliative care. This year's theme will be “Palliative Care It’s more than you think”. For more information, including on how you can participate, visit PCA's webpage.
The current debate on voluntary assisted dying has prompted discussions about the current state of palliative care provision in Australia. To help these discussions, the PM Glynn Institute has published a new report examining access, equity, and gaps in provision. Among their findings are:
March 22-26 is National Advance Care Planning Week, an initiative that encourages all Australians to make their future health care preferences known. Led by Advance Care Planning Australia, it features resources, community events, and webinars.
Our Director Prof Jennifer Tieman is one of the ambassadors for the week long annual event.
Royal Commissioners, the Honourable Tony Pagone QC and Lynelle Briggs AO presented the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety to the Governor-General, His Excellency, General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd) on 26 February 2021. It was tabled on 1 March 2021 and immediately released to the public. The full report and recommendations can be downloaded from the official website.
On 16 February 2021, The Office of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety released a new paper: Research Paper 20 – The quality of care experience and community expectations prepared by Flinders University and The Caring Futures Institute
This and all other papers are now available for download from the Royal Commission website.
On 09 February 2021, The Office of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety released a new paper: Research Paper 19 – Does the quality of residential aged care vary with residents' financial means?
Health professionals, health workers and other interested parties are invited to take part in national consultation to assist in the development of tailored resources for the caring@home for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Families project.
The Australian Government-funded project aims to support the provision of palliative care at home for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, when this is preferred. This may help connect family, culture, community, country and the spiritual wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Read the Factsheet for more information (280kb pdf).
You can take part by attending an in-person event, via an online survey or Microsoft Teams meeting or having a one-on-one conversation with the project manager. To participate or register visit caring@home
In February 2021, The Office of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety released a new paper: Research Paper 18 – Hospitalisations in Australian Aged Care: 2014/15–2018/19
In December 2020, WHO released new guidelines for the management of chronic pain in children. Based on the most current scientific evidence, the recommendations include three areas of inventions: physical therapy, psychological therapy, and pharmacological management, which may include the use of morphine for end-of-life-care or when chronic pain is associated with life-limiting conditions.
As part of its planning and leadership for the palliative care sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, PCA held two strategic forums in 2020 with experts in palliative care, grief, bereavement and mental health to identify the emerging issues, available resources and gaps in current service provision. In December 2020 the outcomes paper Palliative Care and COVID-19: Grief, Bereavement and Mental Health was published summarising the key outcomes of these two strategic meetings together with key research to identify the immediate and longer term issues which will have ongoing impact in the Australian community.
In December 2020, The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety released a new paper: Research Paper 17 – Experimental Estimates of the Prevalence of Elder Abuse in Australian Aged Care Facilities.
Also released was the ICT Strategy and Architecture Report in which the Architecture Practice describes the findings of their independent assessment of the current state of aged care information, communications and assistive technology systems for the aged care sector. It found that there are major deficiencies which do not lead to positive outcomes for older Australians accessing aged care, and propose a number of actions for the Royal Commissioners to consider.
These and all other papers are now available for download from the Royal Commission website.
Sydney North Health Network is launching the Palliative Care in General Practice ECHO Network in February 2021.
Many GPs provide some degree of end-of-life care to patients and their families, and with an ageing population this is set to increase.
Project ECHO is a guided practice education and mentoring model that exponentially increases access to best practice through knowledge-sharing networks.
The Palliative Care in General Practice ECHO Network is a live, online learning series that includes co-management of patient cases in an interactive environment and provides a platform for collaborative learning. It will provide access to an interdisciplinary team of palliative consultants and specialists who will guide case discussion and present latest updates.
Project ECHO can support you in your work through case-based learning. There is an opportunity for GPs to bring de-identified cases for advice and support and it will also feature short presentations on Caring for the Dying.
For further information or to express an interest in participating in the Palliative Care Project ECHO, email Brooke Jay: bjay@snhn.org.au.
On Friday 13 November, 2020 the Board of Palliative Care Australia (PCA) released a media statement to announce that they would commence recruitment of a Chief Executive Officer following the resignation of Chief Executive Officer Rohan Greenland to take up an appointment as Chief Executive Officer of MS Australia. In the interim Ms Tamara Mckee has been appointed as acting CEO of PCA during the recruitment process.
caring@home has new resources available for health professionals providing palliative care in the community - new versions of palliMEDS and Medicine Guidelines.
Palliative Care Self Assessment (PaCSA) provides services with an online portal to self-assess against the National Palliative Care Standards (5th ed.), mapped against the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (2nd ed.), resulting in a quality improvement action plan.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare is seeking input and feedback from the public on the draft National Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Information Priorities. The draft document aims to help guide efforts in palliative care and end-of-life care information development over the next 10 years. The deadline to submit feedback is on 8 November 2020.