What's New in the Community

2017

Palliative care services in Australia 2017
This is the most recent release of the online Palliative care services in Australia report. It is the second in a series of updates to the online Palliative care services in Australia report for 2017. The following sections are updated

• Palliative care in general practice
• Palliative care in residential aged care
• Palliative care outcomes
• Data source

Brain and other central nervous system cancers
This AIHW report estimates that approximately 2,100 new cases of brain and other central nervous system cancers will be diagnosed in Australia in 2017 and 1,500 people will die from these cancers—equating to 6 diagnoses and 4 deaths daily.
 
Allow me!
Palliative Care Australia has released a new mobile app, AllowMe!. The app assists people who are caring for someone with a life-limiting illness by mobilising their existing community to help with practical tasks
 
Alleviating the access abyss in palliative care and pain relief : An imperative of universal health coverage
Universal health coverage is a central component of work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals . However, palliative care and pain relief have remained most neglected dimensions of global health. A Lancet Commission looking at global access to palliative care and pain relief aims to:

1. Quantify the heavy burden of serious health-related suffering associated with a need for PC and pain relief;
2. Identify and cost an essential package of PC and pain relief health services that would alleviate this burden;
3. Measure the unmet need of an indispensable component of the package – off patent, oral, and injectable morphine; and,
4. Outline national and global health-systems strategies to expand access to PC and pain relief as an integral component of UHC while minimising the risk of diversion and non-medical use

Head to Health
A new digital mental health gateway helps people take control of their mental health in a way they are most comfortable with and can complement face-to-face therapies. Head to Health provides a one-stop shop for services and resources delivered by some of Australia’s most trusted mental health service providers. They include free or low-cost apps, online support communities, online courses and phone services.

Centres of Research Excellence Opening Dates
The 2017 round of Centres of Research Excellence will open Wednesday 25 October 2017 and close at 5pm (AEDT) on Wednesday 6 December 2017. Further information will be available on the NHMRC website when the scheme opens.

NHMRC Development Grants 2018
The 2018 round for funding commencing in 2019 will open for applications on Wednesday 15 November 2017. Please see the NHMRC website for more details.

New grant program public consultation on peer review
NHMRC invites submissions to its consultation paper on peer review in the new grant program. Submissions close 5:00pm (AEDT) on Monday 4 December 2017. To complement the consultation paper, NHMRC is hosting a series of public forums across Australia between 29 September and 24 November 2017 on elements of peer review. Registrations are currently being accepted.

Health expenditure Australia 2015-16
This AIHW report notes that the total spending on health in Australia was $170.4 billion in 2015-16, $6.0 billion (3.6%) higher in real terms than in 2014-15. This was the fourth consecutive year that growth was below the 10 year average of 4.7%. Despite the low growth, the share of the economy (GDP) represented by health (10.3%) continued to grow, due to slower real GDP growth (2.7%).

Health of Australia’s females
This AIHW web summary looks at the health experience of Australia's 12 million females (in 2016) experience varying health outcomes across population  Some of the highlighted facts include:

• In 2014–15, 52% of females reported having one or more of 8 selected chronic diseases.
• Nearly 1 in 2 Australian females have experienced a mental health problem,
• Only 1 in 4 women aged 65 and over get sufficient physical activity.
• Females account for 65% of deaths from dementia and Alzheimer disease.

PCA Service Delivery Review
The Service Delivery Review  is reviewing and updating the palliative care planning guides developed by Palliative Care Australia to inform the sector on population planning and service delivery. The communique from the third meeting is available. 

Inquiry into end of life choices
The WA Government has established  a joint committee to hold an inquiry into the need for laws in Western Australia to allow citizens to make informed decisions regarding their own end of life choices. The Joint Select Committee will report to both Houses of Parliament by 23 August 2018. The deadline for submissions is 23 October 2017. More information about making a submission is available from the Western Australian Parliament.

Certificate IV in Bereavement Support
This course is a Nationally Recognised VET Qualification offered through he Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement. Enrolments are now open. This course has been designed for those who:

• Have a role in providing bereavement support in their profession, and require the formal training to enhance their professional performance in the workplace.
• Would like to expand their knowledge of grief and bereavement with a view to further studies in this field.

Trends in cardiovascular deaths
Despite falling cardiovascular disease death rates across all age groups in Australia, the rate of decline in younger age groups has slowed in recent decades. This report describes trends in cardiovascular disease death rates (including coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease) by age group using the latest available data. It builds on previous reports where slowdowns in younger age groups were also found.

Home care packages program data report 27 February – 30 June 2017
The Home Care Packages Program provides older people who want to stay at home with access to a range of ongoing personal services, support services and clinical care that help them with their day-to-day activities. The report provides data on the operations of the home care packages program since commencement of the reforms to home care on 27 February 2017 through to 30 June 2017.

Information and Data on Aged Care in Australia
A new source for Aged Care data has been released via the website GEN from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. It reports on capacity and activity in the aged care system focusing on the people, their care assessments and the services they use.

Palliative and Supportive Care Education July-Dec 2017 Program (1.02MB pdf)
Cancer Council WA has released its semester 2 Education program. There are courses for health professionals, health care workers and palliative care volunteers across WA.

Webinar on the NHMRC’s New Grant Program
NHMRC is making improvements to its grant funding program to ensure it continues to support the best Australian health and medical research and researchers. An update on NHMRC’s new grant program will be presented 18 August 2017 at 1.00pm AEST.

National Palliative Care Strategy Consultation
Urbis is facilitating online and face-to-face consultation on the updated Draft National Palliative Care Strategy. The online consultation provides an opportunity to comment on the draft National Strategy and to offer any suggestions for improvement. Workshops are also beinig held in each capital city in August.

OECD Health Statistics 2017
The online database OECD Health Statistics 2017 has been updated. The OECD Health Database provides comparable statistics on health and health systems across OECD countries.

National Aged Care Advocacy Program
Support and guidance for seniors will be fundamental to the new National Aged Care Advocacy Program (NACAP) to be delivered by the Older Persons Advocacy Network (OPAN).

Voting For Connection with Community People's Choice Award
Palliative Care Australia have received over 40 entries of paintings, drawings, photographs or objects in the second annual art competition Connection with Community. Voting has now opened for the $1000 People's Choice Award and will close at 10am on Monday 28 August 2017.

New funding investment in dementia research
Forty five projects have recieved funding for dementia research. The grants will support researchers undertaking projects in identified priority areas that deliver on the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) National Institute for Dementia Research’s policy to expand leadership in the study of dementia.

Radiotherapy in Australia 2015–16
This report publishes data on 60,600 courses of radiotherapy that were delivered in Australia in 2015–16.  
For non-emergency treatment, 50% of patients started treatment within 9 days, and 90% within 27 days. For those who needed emergency treatment, 91% began treatment within the emergency timeframe. Data were submitted from 44 public-sector sites and 33 private-sector sites, covering effectively 100% of courses delivered in Australia.

Intergenerational Reminiscence Guide
This how-to guide shows how aged care organisations to create meaningful connections between students and aged care residents. Students are supported to develop a relationship with each older person, and each older person has an opportunity to take on the role of elder in the life of the students.

Advanced Health Research and Translation Centres
The aim of the AHRTC initiative is to identify and recognise leading centres of collaboration that excel in health and medical research, the translation of evidence into excellent patient care, and demonstrate a strong research and translation focus in the education of health professionals, at an international level. Three new Centres have been recognised 

• Brisbane Diamantina Health Partners 
• Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise 
• Western Australian Health Translation Network

Australia's hospitals at a glance 2015–16 
This AIHW report provides summary information on Australia’s public and private hospitals. In 2015–16, there were 10.6 million hospitalisations (6.3 million in public hospitals, 4.3 million in private hospitals). The average length of stay was over 5 days (5.7 days in public hospitals; 5.2 days in private hospitals). 1 in 4 hospitalisations involved a surgical procedure. 27% were emergency admissions. 149,000 hospitalisations involved a stay in intensive care. 60% were same-day hospitalisations.

Cancer Carer Study
Researchers from Macquarie University are interested in understanding the way cancer caregiving affects carers - during caregiving or in bereavement.  We hope the results will help us improve the support given to carers. Our online survey is anonymous and takes about 15 minutes (current carers) to 30 minutes (bereaved carers) to complete. We will ask some questions about you, how you feel about your role as a caregiver, and some brief details about your family member or friend’s illness. To access the survey or more information, go to www.cancercarerstudy.org. This research has been approved by Macquarie University Ethics Committee

National Advance Care Planning Prevalence Study
Decision Assist has funded a project to determine the prevalence of advance care planning documentation for people aged over 65 in hospitals, general practice and aged care homes. Applications to participate in the National Advance Care Planning Prevalence Study are now open to all public, private, accredited hospitals, residential aged care facilities and general practices. Applications close 20 July 2017.

Hospital resources 2015-16: Australian hospital statistics
This AIHW report highlights hospital statistics for the 701 public hospitals with around 61,000 beds and the 630 private hositals with around 33,100 beds.
Total recurrent expenditure on public hospital services was about $64 billion. About 57% of this was for admitted patient care, 18% for outpatient care, 10% for emergency care services, 2% for teaching, training and research and 13% for all other services.

Service Delivery Review – Review and update of palliative care planning guides
Two of Palliative Care Australia’s most important resources, A Guide to Palliative Care Service Development: A population based approach and Palliative Care Service Provision in Australia: a planning guide, are being reviewed and revised.

Advance Care Planning Implementation Guide
The National Ageing Research Institute is undertaking a project, funded by Decision Assist, which aims to develop an advance care planning implementation guide for aged care providers. If you are working in community or residential aged care, you can help by completing a survey exploring how advance care planning is implemented and discussed within your organisation. The survey will take you approximately 15 minutes to complete.  To take the survey please go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NARI_ACPA_ACP.
If you have any queries in relation to this survey or the project please contact Kerry Hwang on (03) 8387 2666 or k.hwang@nari.edu.au.

Connection With Community Art Competition
The art competition aims to raise awareness in the community about palliative care, end-of-life care, death and bereavement. This year’s theme of ‘Connection with Community’ aims to showcase how people who may be living with serious illness are supported by their communities.Competition entries close on July 31.

Burden of cancer in Australia: Australian Burden of Disease Study 2011
Cancer was the greatest cause of health burden in Australia in 2011, accounting for around one-fifth of the total disease burden. Most (94%) of this burden was due to dying prematurely, with only a small proportion of the burden due to living with a cancer diagnosis. This AIHW report explores in further detail the burden of cancer in Australia, including cancer burden in Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people, and by remoteness and socioeconomic group.

Human Research Ethics Application (HREA) replaces National Ethics Application Form (NEAF)
Users can access their NEAF accounts to copy or export any proposal data up until Friday 30 June 2017. The NEAF website will be decommissioned on Friday 30 June 2017 and proposal data will not be retained. Researchers who generate and submit applications to Australian public hospital HRECs as part of the jurisdictional National Mutual Acceptance scheme can continue to use Online Forms. A transition to the HREA is anticipated to occur mid to late 2017.

PCOC National Compendium Report July-December 2016
The Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC) state and national reports for July - December 2016 are now available on the PCOC website and include the compendium report, dashboard report and other lists of services


Productivity Commission inquiry into introducing competition and informed user choice into human services
The Productivity Commission have released their latest draft report for comment and consultation. The draft report notes that many Australians do not die in their preferred place of their chocie nor do they have their end of life needs fully met. Issues around hospital deaths, community palliative care and residential aged care were all highlighted. Written submission and comments can be made until Friday 14 July 2017.

Non-admitted patient care 2015-16: Australian hospital statistics
In 2015-16, about 33.4 million non-admitted patient service events were provided by 604 public hospitals, including:

• 15.3 million service events in allied health and/or clinical nurse specialists clinics;
• 9.7 million service events in medical consultation clinics;  amd
• 2.6 million service events in procedural clinics.

5th Australian Palliative Care Research Colloquium
This Colloquium provides an invaluable opportunity for those interested in or involved in multi-disciplinary palliative care research or related fields to learn, connect and collaborate.

Online Dying to Talk Resources
Palliative Care Australia has made it easier  for people to record their care wishes for the end of their life by launching two new online resources. The online Dying to Talk Discussion Starter and Card Game are available on the PCA website.

2017 National Palliative Care Conference Program
Palliative Care Australia has released the 2017  biennial conference program and opened nominations for the National Palliative Care Awards. Nominations for  awards must be received by Friday 14 July.

National Strategic Framework for Chronic Conditions
The Department of Health has released a policy document providing a National Strategic Framework for Chronic Conditions.  The objectives of the framework are to:

• Focus on prevention for a healthier Australia
• Provide efficient, effective and appropriate care to support people with chronic conditions to optimise quality of life, and 
• Target priority populations

National Key Performance Indicators for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care: results from June 2016
This is the fourth national report on the national Key Performance Indicators data collection from more than 240 primary health care organisations that received funding from the Australian Government Department of Health to provide services primarily to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

2017 Decision Assist and Palliative Care Australia Continuing Professional Development Scholarships
You are invited to submit an application for the Decision Assist and Palliative Care Australia Continuing Professional Development Scholarships. The aim of the scholarships is to improve palliative care delivery in aged care.

Rural Health Topic Update
AIHW data shows that Australians living in rural and remote areas tend to have shorter lives, higher levels of disease and injury and poorer access to and use of health services compared to people living in metropolitan areas. Poorer health outcomes in rural and remote areas may be due to a range of factors, including a level of disadvantage related to education and employment opportunities, income and access to health services.

Palliative care hospitalisations rising
New data has revealed that hospitalisations for palliative care are growing faster than all hospitalisations, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). The figures also show that, before their death, a greater proportion of people are accessing palliative care services in hospital.

Principles for Palliative and End-of-Life Care in Residential Aged Care
New principles collaboratively developed by peak aged care and palliative care bodies could be used to guide care for older Australians and support their families and carers. The principles address recognising end-of-life: involving consumers in planning and decision making; timely access to care and care that is holistic and meets spirital and psychosocial needs; care that meets the needs of those with dementia and cognitive impairment;  dignity and respect; and bereavement support.   

Advance Care Planning Australia (ACPA)
The new Advance Care Planning Australia website makes it easier to find best practice resources, education and training for advance care planning. There is also a new Decision Assist website.

WHPCA advocacy bulletin May 2017
The WHPCA is inviting consultation on their plans for the 70th World Health Assembly, and the Open Ended Working Group on Ageing. Please send any feedback to info@thewhpca.org.

Life expectancy and disability in Australia: expected years living with and without disability
AIHW report highlights that Australians are living longer, and notes that their state of health in these years has important implications for population health and wellbeing and for Australia's health and care systems.

• Between 2003 and 2015, life expectancy at birth increased for both sexes, and most of this increase corresponded with an increase in years living free of disability and free of severe or profound core activity limitation.
• Older Australians have also seen increases in the expected number of years living free of disability.

Older Australia at a glance 2017
The Older Australia at a Glance online compendium comprises an authoritative reference source of information and key statistics on topics and issues that affect older Australians. The 2017 release includes snapshots relating to: 
  1.  Burden of disease
  2.  Diabetes
  3.  Oral health and disease
  4.  Biomedical risk factors
  5.  Dental service use
  6.  Aged care assessments

NICE Quality Standard (Draft): End of life care for infants, children and young people
The UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has developed a draft standard relating to  end of life care for children. Following consultation the final quality standards will be released in October 2017.

Caring for people with intellectual disability who are dying
Researchers from Western Sydney University, Sydney University and HammondCare are looking at Australian palliative care team experiences with people with intellectual disability who are dying.They are seeking physicians, nurses, social workers or pastoral care workers working in a NSW multidisciplinary specialist palliative care team who have cared for, or anticipate that you might one day care for, a person with intellectual disability who is dying for phone interviews.For more information, please contact Michele Wiese: m.wiese@westernsydney.edu.au telephone (02) 4736 0067

National Opioid Pharmacotherapy Statistics Annual Data (NOPSAD) collection 2016
On a snapshot day in 2016, almost 34,000 clients across 6 states received pharmacotherapy treatment for their opioid dependence at 2,011 dosing points. The median age of clients was 42 years.

• As with previous years, methadone was the most common pharmacotherapy drug, with around two-thirds (66%) of clients treated with this drug.
• Across the jurisdictions that reported data, there were 1,472 authorised prescribers of opioid pharmacotherapy drugs.
• Data for Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory were unavailable at the time of release. The report and associated tables will be updated when these data become available.

Specialist palliative care resources to help patient care in Western Australia
The WA Cancer and Palliative Care Network, Department of Health Western Australia, has developed referral and admission resources (external site) to help GPs source the best care for their patients who require access to specialist palliative care. Service summaries (external site) have also been developed by each of the fifteen Perth metropolitan specialist palliative care services and the seven regional specialist palliative care teams

New online resources to assist planning ahead for people with dementia
New planning ahead and advance care planning resources are now available online to assist community, aged and health care staff to highlight the importance of planning ahead for people in their care, particularly those in the early stages of dementia. The resources, funded through the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre (CDPC) are hosted on the Alzheimer’s Australia website and CDPC websites

New advance care planning learning modules for health professionals and care workers
Decision Assist and Advance Care Planning Australia (ACPA) have a brand new integrated online learning space with up-to-date resources and training tools to support best practice in advance care planning.

National CALD Ageing and Aged Care Strategy Review Submission
Comments are now being sought on the Review of the CALD Strategy and the development of the Diversity Framework.The CALD Strategy is going to be replaced by a broader Aged Care Diversity Framework aimed to build on existing efforts to provide guidance for providers to embed better practice in their service delivery to better meet the diverse needs of older people.Under the Diversity Framework, an action plan for CALD consumers will be developed. Submissions close 12 May 2017

New Code of Ethics for Doctors
The AMA has released its new Code of Ethics, which, for the first time since 2006, has been substantially revised. Its Code articulates and promotes a body of ethical principles to guide doctors' conduct in their relationships with patients, colleagues, and society.

The Australia and New Zealand Pulmonary Rehabilitation Guidelines
Pulmonary rehabilitation is considered a key component of the management of people with COPD and has been shown to reduce symptoms of breathlessness and fatigue, improve health-related quality of life, and may reduce hospital readmissions after an exacerbation.The Australian and New Zealand Pulmonary Rehabilitation Guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for the practice of pulmonary rehabiliatation specific to Australian and New Zealand healthcare contexts.

New resources to help Indigenous Australians broach end of life discussions
A discussion starter about end of life care, specifically developed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, was launched at Parliament House by the Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health, Ken Wyatt.The Dying toTalk resources include a culturally appropriate step-by-step guide to make those difficult discussions about death that bit easier and a set of cards that can be used as a tool to start the conversations.

NSW Bereavement Counselling Services
The NSW Bereavement Counselling Services Directory for 2017 is now available online. This comprehensive resource provides details of the grief and bereavement services available across Sydney, the Central Coast and the Southern Highlands. It has now been uploaded to the Palliative Care Bridge under Written Resources.

Hospital care for patients aged 85 and over, 2014–15
This spotlight report looks at the admitted patient care provided for the oldest of patients in Australian hospitals in 2014–15. It presents information on the amount of activity there was for patients aged 85 years and over and how this has changed over time.

Better Indigenous Palliative Care
On National Close the Gap Day, Palliative Care Australia has highlighted the need for more work to improve Indigenous palliative care including better rural and remote access to palliative care. Culturally safe palliative and end-of-life care was also seen as an important step.

Deaths in Australian hospitals 2014-15
This report examines admitted patient care provided to those patients whose place of death was in an Australian hospital during 2014-15, noting just under half (76,856) of all deaths in Australia (153,580 in 2014) occurred in a hospital as admitted patients.

My Life, My Lead
The Department of Health is inviting submissions from organisations and individuals on the social and cultural determinants of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Submissions will contirbute to the blueprint on the Social and Cultural Determinants of Indigenous Health, Comments need to be submitteed by 30 April 2017.

Single Aged Care Quality Framework - Draft Aged Care Quality Standards
The Australian Government is seeking responses to a consultation paper with a draft set of aged care standards and rationale. The Consultation Paper is your opportunity to contribute to, and directly influence, the reforms and the quality of aged care in Australia. The consultation closes 21 April 2017.

Single Aged Care Quality Framework - Options for assessing performance against aged care quality standards
The Options Paper for assessing service provider performance against the draft aged care quality standards details three proposed options:

• An assessment process based on aged care setting with different approaches used for residential settings and home/community settings (based on the status quo with improvements)
• Introducing a single risk based assessment process that is applicable to all aged care settings
• Use of a safety and quality declaration by organisations providing low risk services readily available to the broader population.

Feedback and comments will help  identify the preferred approach.This consultation closes on Friday 21 April 2017.

Commercially grown cannabis
The first licence for an Australian company to grow and harvest medicinal cannabis has been granted. This major development will lead to improved access to domestically produced medicinal cannabis products for Australian patients.

National Palliative Care Week 2017
Palliative Care Australia has announced that the theme for this year’s week will be ‘You matter, your care matters. Palliative care can make a difference’ and will focus on residential and community aged care.

$5 million community-based palliative care equipment and infrastructure grants
A new $5 million fund aims to support community palliative care agencies to support more Victorians with life-limiting illnesses to be cared for and die in their place of choice. The one-off fund will provide grants up to a maximum of $50,000 for equipment and infrastructure that supports nurses and other direct care staff to provide care in people’s homes. Applications close 5:00pm, Thursday 13 April 2017.

Post Doctoral Research Fellows UTS Health
UTS is  looking for 2 x Postdoctoral Research Fellows to work under the supervision of the Professor of Nursing Aged Care (Dementia). As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, you will use experience and knowledge of Health Services to conduct and manage research in aged care or dementia.

Increasing Choice in Home Care
This major aged care reform gives consumers more choice in home care services – such as personal care, nursing and social support – to suit their individual needs. It aims to improve the way services are delivered to older people in their homes.

Specialist Palliative Care and Advance Care Planning Advisory Services Grant Opportunity
The Department of Health is seeking applications for grant funding to provide innovative models of delivering the Advisory Services. The objective is to coordinate and deliver innovative models of specialist palliative care and advance care planning advisory services in all jurisdictions. Applications close 2:00 pm Canberra time on Tuesday 4 April 2017

Economic Cost of Dementia in Australia: 2016-2056
This NATSEM report updates the Access Economics 2002 estimate to 2016 and also projects likely future costs of dementia over the next 40 years. The report  provides an overview of dementia in Australia, including increases in the prevalence and incidence of dementia over the next 40 years, describes some of the social and economic characteristics of people with dementia, and identifies the impact of dementia on mortality and burden of disease.

Living Well with Metastatic Breast Cancer 
Palliative Care Australia and Breast Cancer Network Australia have developed an online tool to empower people living with metastatic breast cancer to make informed care choices, based on an accurate understanding of palliative care and its benefits.  The tool asks a short series of questions to enable it to respond according to their needs

Closing the Gap Prime Minster's report 2017
The latest Close the Gap report shows Indigenous mortality rate from cancer is rising and that many indicators have not been achieved. 

Job Opportunity: Research Fellow at CPC (Melbourne)
An opportunity currently exists for an experienced Research Fellow to join The Centre for Palliative Care (CPC) team on a Full Time, Fixed Term basis until March 2019. Applications must be receuived by 21 February 2017

Deaths web pages
This AIHW web update presents updated data on deaths, causes of death and life expectancy in Australia. There were 153,580 deaths registered in Australia in 2014. Two-thirds (66%) of deaths were among people aged over 75 years.

Cancer in Australia 2017
This AIHW report presents the latest available information on national population screening programs, Medicare data, cancer incidence, hospitalisations, survival, prevalence, mortality and burden of disease.

PCA Conference 2017: Connection with Community
Abstract submissions and registrations for the 2017 Australian Palliative Care Conference will open on Monday 6 February. The theme of the conference is Connection with Community. This theme challenges us to examine how we connect, who we connect with and how effectively our connections can strengthen and build a community of practice and care within palliative care. More details on the abstract submission process are availble at the conference website.

International survey of carers of  people with heart failure
Carers Australia is involved in a four nation study of carers of people with heart failure being conducted by the Internaitonal Alliance of Carer Organisations. The study aims to determine the impact on family and friend carers and better targeted related support services. Carers of persons with heart failure are invited to complete the survey until 28 February 2017.

New Health Minister
Greg Hunt will become the Minister for Health and Minister for Sport.Senator Arthur Sinodinos will take over as Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science.Ken Wyatt, who has been the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, will become the Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health. As senior minister, Mr Hunt will  represent the Aged Care sector in Cabinet. Dr. David Gillespie will serve in the portfolio as Assistant Minister for Health.

essential elements for safe and high-quality paediatric end-of-life care
The National consensus statement:essential elements for safe and high-quality paediatric end-of-life care describes the elements that are essential for delivering safe and high-quality endof-life care to children in acute care settings in Australia.

Queenslanders needed for study into law at end of life
Queenslanders are being urged to take part in an Australian-first study to better understand community engagement with law at the end of life.The study, led by QUT and CCQ, is the first attempt to assess whether Australians understand and/or act upon their legal right to participate in decisions about medical treatment for themselves, or for their loved ones at the end of life.  Queenslanders can find out more by contacting Dr Rachel Feeney at QUT on 3365 2505, or rachel.feeney@qut.edu.au.

This page was last updated 19 October  2017